Wilkes-Barre, PA — On Sunday night (Aug. 4) The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono will host the second preliminary round of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes competition for 2-year-old pacing fillies, with three divisions of a Sire Stakes event worth $184,240, and five divisions of Stallion Series action worth $20,000 each.

In the tenth race Sire Stakes division, Sweet Ace, the fastest 2-year-old of 2019 regardless of gender or size of track, will start from post six for driver Dexter Dunn, trainer Ron Burke, and owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Lawrence Karr, and Jason Melillo.

At The Meadows last Saturday afternoon on the big Adios card, the daughter of Sweet Lou–One Ace Too Many laid off of spirited fractions, then came on in the stretch to stop the timer in 1:50.4 in an Arden Downs division, her second straight victory after triumphing in the first round of the Sire Stakes.

And showing how tough competition in Pennsylvania is, Sweet Ace is not even the morning line favorite in her race. That honor was given to JK First Lady, a daughter of Western Ideal out of 2014 Horse of the Year JK She’salady, who also was trained by Nancy Johansson. Starting from the rail for driver Yannick Gingras, Johansson and 3 Brothers Stables, JK First Lady comes off two straight victories in the Kindergarten Series at The Meadowlands, the latter in 1:51.3-:26.2.

The other two first round Sire Stakes winners start side-by-side in the fifth race PaSS division. Shouldabeenatd (Sweet Lou–Breakheart Pass), who set most of the pace in the Sweet Ace race and had taken her Sire Stakes start in 1:52.2, begins from post two for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke, while post three finds Lyons Sentinel (Captaintreacherous–Tulu Hanover) going for driver David Miller and trainer Jim King Jr. after a Sire Stakes triumph in 1:53.

The Stallion Series action sees all four first round winners returning for the Pocono contest. Two of them will meet each other in the ninth race section: Aplomp Hanover (post one, driver David Miller), who followed up her Stallion Series win with a triumph in an Arden Downs division, and The Party’s Rockin (post six, driver Tyler Buter), who scored a 14-1 upset in the first round.

The other winners both begin from post position five for trainer Jim King Jr.: Lyons Sweetjen in race four and Shotgun Persuasion in race eight.

First of the 14 races set for Pocono on Sunday evening is scheduled for 7 p.m.