by John Zimich, publicity director, Pocono Downs

Wilkes-Barre, PA — Takeshigemichi and Rusty’s For Real established new track marks for 3-year-old colt pacers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Saturday afternoon (May 12) in winning two elimination races for the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace. Both crossed the finish line with identical 1:50 times.

Daniel Dube drove Takeshigemichi to the win in the opener.

In the first elimination of the Hempt, Takeshigemichi, driven by Daniel Dube and trained by Anthony Mannino, sat second for the opening panel with Tivoli Hanover (Tim Tetrick) showing the way. The opening stanza went in :27.4.

Takeshigemichi quickly seized the lead from Tivoli Hanover and took the nine-horse field to the half in :56.1 and the three-quarters in 1:22.4.

The 3-year-old The Panderosa colt, starting for the initial time in 2007, won by 1-3/4 lengths with Tivoli Hanover second and Truey’s Legacy (Kevin Sizer) third. Fourth in this race was Whats Up Now (Ron Pierce).

Racehorsephoto.com photos

Rusty’s For Real (Tim Tetrick) was all alone at the wire in the second elimination.

Tetrick, with Rusty’s For Real, also made a quarter-pole move in the second elimination. The Double Dion N, driven by Yannick Gingras, made the front from the six hole, taking this eight-horse field to the opening quarter in :26.4 before Rusty’s For Real got to the front with the second panel reading :54.3.

Rusty’s For Real got to the three-quarter mark in 1:22.3 before winning by 2-1/2 lengths over The Double Dion N, with third going to Isaac Newton (Pierce) and fourth to Mr Aviator (Sizer).

The top four finishers from each elimination will make the $300,000-plus Hempt final next Saturday, with the nine-horse field being rounded out by the fastest fifth place finisher, which was Big Al’s Delight (James Morrill, Jr.) with a time of 1:50.4.

While all eyes were on the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace horses, Miracle Believer stole the show by equaling the all-time track record for pacers.

In the very first race of the 13-race card, Miracle Believer, trained by Thomas Guido III and driven by Greg Merton, captured the $14,500 Open Pace with a time of 1:49.4 over a lightning fast racing surface.

Leaving from the one post, Miracle Believer sat third for the opening quarter with the front runner being Beach Romance N (Tom Jackson) with the timer reading :27.1.

Merton went to the outside to challenge Beach Romance N and went right on by to take the field to the half in :54.2 and the three-quarters in 1:21.4 before winning in 1:49.4.

That clocking equaled the all-time track mark for a pacer, previously held by Yankee Finale with Cat Manzi in the sulky. That 1:49.4 occurred on July 10, 2005.

Stanley Bruder of Pomona, N.Y., owns Miracle Believer, a winner of eight of 15 starts in 2007 who was claimed for $25,000 on May 5 of this year.