Wilkes-Barre, PA — The Betterthancheddar mare Miss You N, given a fine pocket trip by driver Scott Zeron, gained into a :54.3 last half to catch pacesetter Vorst by a half-length while taking a new mark of 1:51.2 in winning the $14,000 pacing feature for mares during the Sunday (July 5) twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Miss You N was away quickly and stretched Vorst to a :27.2 opener, then yielded and sat in the two-hole as Vorst got a breather to a :56.4 half. Favored Apple Bottom Jeans made a good first-over move to and past a 1:24 three-quarters to challenge, but eventually the race came down to the first two inside horses, and Zeron utilized the Pocono Pike to catch the pacesetter. Ross Croghan trains the winner for the partnership of Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing, who saw their mare boost her bankroll to $181,430.

The Irish-bred mare Blackwell Ruby IR showed no rust after a near-four month layoff, brushing to the lead in front of the stands and going on to a career-best 1:51.2 triumph in a $13,600 distaff pacing class. Jim Marohn Jr. drove the winner of 12 for 16 lifetime for trainer Bob Cleary and owner Gavin Murdock, and she shows every indication of being a threat to tougher mares (though she can still win in this class twice more based on her earnings before going westward across the Atlantic).

Stopping the clock a tick faster than the featured females was the Captaintreacherous sophomore colt A Positive Hanover, who was pointed right down the road by driver Corey Callahan upon coming in from Canada and kept on rolling to a convincing 1:51.1 triumph for a new lifetime best. Third in a division of the Bluegrass at two, A Positive Hanover looks ready to fulfill his potential now for trainer Blake MacIntosh, co-owner with Steve Heimbecker, Touchstone Farms Inc. and Larry Denley.