Wilkes-Barre, PA – Driver Matt Kakaley, atop the standings at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, further added to his lead by recording seven victories on the Monday (June 12) afternoon card, including both divisions of the $15,000 trotting features.

The Tactical Landing sophomore filly Tactical Mounds got away from tough opponents in New Jersey and promptly won over Monday’s sloppy going in 1:54.1 to take a new mark in the quicker cut. Kakaley went on with this filly from the outside post seven, grinding up to the lead at the three-eighths, and from there she won by 2-3/4 lengths in a most impressive fashion for trainer Megan Scran and Thestable Tactical Mounds.

Matt Kakaley won seven races at Pocono Monday, including both features; here he’s pictured with Swanky Hanover. Curtis Salonick photo.

Swanky Hanover, the sophomore full sister to Manchego who brought $700,000 as a yearling, is on a run while showing the winning ways of her sibling, running her 2023 record to three-for-four by taking the other co-feature in 1:56.2 over the sloppy going.

Backers of the 7-5 favorite may have been a little nervous nearing the half as the Muscle Hill miss was in fourth-over position, but less than an eighth of a mile later she was second-over as the original second-over broke and the first-over brushed to the lead. Swanky Hanover followed good cover, swung three-wide on the far turn, and the filly won by two lengths for Jeffrey and Michael Snyder. The victory ran trainer Marcus Melander’s 2023 record at Pocono to 21-13-2-2, which figures out to a 62% win percentage and a UTR of .704.

The racing week closes out on Tuesday (June 13) with a 1 p.m. card. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.