Wilkes-Barre, PA — It was the “George And Dean Show” on Sunday (June 23) evening at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, with the track’s all-time leading driver George Napolitano Jr. visiting the winners circle five times, four times with horses trained by Dean Eckley, including in both $16,500 featured paces.

Shoobee Doo A equals the fastest time of the year at Pocono, 1:49.1, with a feature victory on Sunday. Curtis Salonick Photo.

The faster of the high-priced featured claimers was Shoobie Doo A, taking revenge on A Fair Ol Dance’s ending of his three-race win streak last week by defeating that rival in 1:49.1, a clocking that equaled the 2024 local seasonal standard of Da Delightful and Big Skewy N and also gave the horse a lifetime best. Shoobie Doo A had to go a :26 quarter to clear his archrival for the lead, then put up middle fractions of :54.1 and 1:21.2. A Fair Ol Dance got a fair chance at his opponent in the lane but came up a half length shy of the altered son of Shoobee’s Place, claimed for $40,000 out of his last start by owner William Hartt but not again switching barns after this win.

Changing hands for $33,000 after his victory, though, will be the other Napolitano/Eckley feature winner, Winbak Willy T. The son of Art Major, owned by Kathleen Napolitano for this event, refused to let anyone get by him through monstrous fractions of :26, :53.2, and 1:21.3, then pulled away to win by  2-1/2 lengths, lowering his record to 1:50.2 at age ten.

Napolitano, who has had sixteen wins in the last four cards he has been part of (five and four at Philly on Thursday and Friday, respectively, then two here yesterday before tonight’s five-bagger), moved closer in second to meet leader Matt Kakaley. Eckley, also already second in his standings, narrowed Jeff Cullipher’s lead with his quadruple.

In a $14,000 race for two-year-old trotting males, another hot pairing as of late, driver Jim Marohn Jr. and trainer / owner D. R. Ackerman, clicked again with the Bar Hopping – Ginger Tree Bren gelding Gimlet Hanover, who moved outside before the far turn and stepped his own last fraction in :28 to win his pari-mutuel debut in 1:58.

Pocono will be racing Monday and Tuesday cards, both starting at 1 p.m. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.