from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Lyons River Pride, second upon coming to the U.S. after campaigning at Mohawk, improved on that finish by one position in a $16,000 distaff pace Tuesday night (Nov. 15) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, brushing to the lead past the quarter and then holding off Mother Of Art by a head in 1:53.

The sophomore Somebeachsomewhere miss, owned by Geoffrey Lyons Mound, had shown her quality by being race-timed in 1:51.1 at The Meadowlands in her last start, giving the crowd the confidence to back her down to 3-5 odds. While that confidence may have been shaken as Mother Of Art narrowed in in the Pocono Pike, it was not broken at the wire as Lyons River Pride raised her earnings to $153,389 for driver Jim Taggart Jr. and trainer Buzzy Sholty.

Classic Carpet unleashed a strong stretch kick to overhaul her rivals by 1-1/2 lengths and win the $15,500 mares co-featured pace in 1:53. Standing out in stark relief to the rest of the card at press time — eight of the first nine favorites won — Classic Carpet was the longest shot on the board in race 10 despite having won two of her last three starts, but the Western Terror miss belied the odds by storming her own last split in :27.3 to win for owner/trainer John Leggio.

We forgot to mention the driver? But you could have guessed that one — the longest shot on the board was driven by Pocono’s King of the Longshots, Marcus Miller.

There are only three cards left in the 2016 harness racing season at The Downs — this Saturday night (Nov. 19), next Tuesday (Nov. 22), and then closing night the Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 26).