Wilkes-Barre, PA – Younger horses on their way to bigger purses (and tougher competition) met for $15,500 in a pair of features on Monday afternoon (Oct. 6) at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. One of the headliners was a pace for distaffs, the other a trot.
In the trotting feature, the striking gray Bar Hopping sophomore gelding Messenger Hanover, second in his Stallion Series Championship, won for the second consecutive time, here taking a new mark of 1:54 for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Ron Burke, and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Jim Simpson, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby. Messenger Hanover set fractions of :27.4, :57.1, and 1:24.4 enroute to victory.
Giving good chase from the two-hole and only three parts of a length back at the wire was Lionheart Hanover, the winningest (13) and fastest (1:58.2) trotter at the Pennsylvania fairs this summer, in a good tuneup for his $25,000 divisional PA Fair Sire Stakes Championship next Monday (Oct. 13). That card, with $200,000 in purses for the eight PaFSS sections overall, will be drawn Tuesday, (Oct. 7), when Pocono closes out its racing week with a 1 p.m. start.
The pacing females were headed by the Lazarus N 3-year-old filly Shesgotthejack, who stayed connected with the front group behind pacesetter Bequeath (:27.3, :55.3, 1:23.1) as the field raced in two packs of four from before the half. Shesgotthejack tipped wide in the stretch and caught favored Lily White Hanover, who had come out of the pocket to get the stretch lead, while stopping the clock in 1:52.1. Ridge Warren drove the winner, third in the recent NJ Classic, for trainer Jacob Hartline and Anatolia Racing LLC.
The $12,500 fast-class feature for pacing fillies and mares provided a showcase for the Captaintreacherous mare Stonecoldtreachery, who did not look back while posting fractions of :26.2, :54, and 1:21 en route to success in 1:49.4 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., trainer Juan Cano, and owner Hot Lead Farm. The four-year-old boosted her career earnings into six figures with this victory, but she had previously shown her high-level ability getting a check in the Lady Liberty against Sylvia Hanover and Twin B Joe Fresh.
The Napolitano brothers, Anthony and George Jr., joined Ridge Warren in driving three winners on the Monday Pocono card.
There will be a carryover into the last race High 5 wager on the Tuesday (Oct. 7) 1 p.m. card. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.