from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — The two top rated horses in 2015 North American harness racing, the 3-year-old geldings Pinkman and Wiggle It Jiggleit, will continue their battle for No. 1 status in the sport this Saturday night (Aug. 22) during the $2,435,000 Super Stakes Saturday card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

The duo will be going in consecutive races — first Pinkman in the $500,000 Colonial Trot and then Wiggle It Jiggleit in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine Pace.

The three 3-year-old races, which include the $350,000 Valley Forge Pace for fillies, are filled according to 2015 money winnings — the nine having the highest seasonal bankrolls are gathered in the “main event” races, with the next nine in order in Consolation I, and the nine after that in Consolation II.

Another high-profile event Saturday is the $100,000 Sebastian K Invitational Trot, a race which will double as a retirement ceremony for the trans-Atlantic champion who will be honored in special on-track ceremonies before he heads to stallion duties. Ironically, the likely favorite is the Sebastian K is JL Cruze — the No. 3-ranked horse in North America, and the one who defeated Sebastian K by a nose in his only 2015 outing before his retirement.

Here are profiles of the Big Three 3-year-old events, followed by a look at the Sebastian K Trot and other powerful races on the Saturday card:

Colonial Trot: $500,000 main event — race 11; $200,000 Consolation I — race seven; $100,000 Consolation II — race three. Stakes record: 1:52.1, Googoo Gaagaa.

Pinkman, fresh off his two-heat, world record setting victory in the Hambletonian, was aided by the draw with post two in the field of nine. Yannick Gingras is listed to drive Pinkman, a son of Explosive Matter who has eight wins and one second in nine seasonal starts, with his mark the 1:51 world record for 3-year-old trotting geldings in the second heat of the Hambletonian, and his $1,170,965 in 2015 earnings raising his career total to $1,737,625. (By the way, his chief foe in the Hambletonian, the filly Mission Brief, will be racing in Pennsylvania some 27 hours earlier, heading the $174,000 Moni Maker Trot at The Meadows Friday night.)

Pinkman will find some familiar faces on the track beside him Saturday, as five of the nine Colonial entrants are, like he, part of the trotting super stable of Jimmy Takter. The “other” quartet — Uncle Lasse (post three, driver David Miller), The Bank (post six, Takter listing himself), Canepa Hanover (post eight, John Campbell back in the sulky), and French Laundry (post nine, Brett Miller) — are not just “makeweight” entrants either, with combined seasonal earnings of $900,000 among them.

Crazy Wow (post one, trainer Ron Burke, driver Tim Tetrick) and Wicker Hanover (post five, Noel Daley, Corey Callahan) seem to have the best chance to upset the Takter applecart. Crazy Wow was third in the Beal final here in June, behind Pinkman and Uncle Lasse, while Wicker Hanover handed Pinkman his only defeat of the year, in the Beal eliminations.

Battle of the Brandywine: $500,000 main event — race 12; $200,000 Consolation I — race eight; $100,000 Consolation II — race four. Stakes record: 1:47.4, Sunshine Beach.

Wiggle It Jiggleit, an altered son of Mr Wiggles, has achieved slightly-higher earnings than Pinkman so far — $1,189,144 — while winning 15 of 17 starts and showing speed, maneuverability, and courage. The winner of the Hempt final here at Pocono earlier this season, Wiggle It Jiggleit will have driver Montrell Teague alert early, as he will be starting from the rail, and Teague’s job will be to get him to the front at some point without a terrific usage of resources, the fate which befell him in the recent Cane Pace, where he was involved in fractions of :25.4, :52.1, and 1:20.4 before tiring to fourth in the stretch.

The four horses who have finished ahead of Wiggle It Jiggleit in his lifetime (he raced only once at two, winning here) are all in the big Battle. Wakizashi Hanover (post seven, trainer Joann Looney-King, driver Tim Tetrick, No. 7 in the North American polls) caught Wiggle It Jiggleit in the stretch drive of the North America Cup at Mohawk, while the 1-2-3 Cane finishers are also here — in order of that race’s finish — Dealt A Winner (post nine, Mark Silva, David Miller), Artspeak (post eight, Tony Alagna, Scott Zeron), and Dude’s The Man (post two, Jessica Okusko, Corey Callahan). Dude’s The Man also won the last big-money race for this division in Pennsylvania, the Adios at The Meadows on Aug. 1.

Valley Forge Pace: $350,000 main event — race 10; $150,000 Consolation I — race seven; $75,000 Consolation II — race three. Stakes record: 1:48.4, I Luv The Nitelife.

A division desperately looking for a leader after a series of different winners in most of this year’s major events to date may find one emerge from the Valley Forge Pace.

The biggest 2015 bankroll in the collection of nine misses belongs to Bettor Be Steppin, a daughter of Bettor’s Delight who will begin from post four for trainer Joe Holloway and driver Corey Callahan. Over half of the seasonal winnings of Bettor Be Steppin came right at Pocono, when she won a multi-horse close finish to capture the $300,000 Lynch final, taking her mark of 1:50.4.

In finding other ways to measure this evenly-matched group, the biggest career bankroll belongs to Sassa Hanover ($634,440, post seven, trainer Ron Burke, driver Yannick Gingras), while the fastest speed mark is held by Moonlit Dance (1:49 winning the recent Mistletoe Shalee final, post six, trainer Tony O’Sullivan, driver David Miller). Both of those fillies show solid credentials in their achievements and their connections, and are likely to contribute to this fairly-wide-open affair.

Other Big Races Saturday

The $100,000 Sebastian K Trot (race five) marks the return to the races after a five-week break of the Cinderella story JL Cruze, who started to build a following while winning the Weiss Series here in the spring. He has gone on to win 16 of 18 starts and more than $600,000 for trainer Eric Ell, with John Campbell returning from a recent injury to guide the trotter from the middle of the nine-horse field. Along the way, JL Cruze has become the third-fastest trotter of all-time, behind only Sebastian K and Enough Talk (1:49.3 at Colonial) when he won the Graduate Series final in 1:49.4.

The card kicks off with a bang, as national stars Cinamony, Krispy Apple, Ooh Bad Shark, and Yagonnakissmeornot collide in the $50,000 Hanover Shoe Farms Pace for mares.

The $50,000 U.S. Trotting Association Pace for free-for-allers may turn out to be the national coming-out party for the unheralded Always At My Place (post two, trainer Ron Burke, driver Matt Kalaley), who goes for his sixth win in a row after missing the world record for 4-year-old pacing geldings by a tick here last Saturday, stopping the timer in 1:48.1 while pacing his own back half uncovered in :53.1 and winning under a hold.

Complete entries for the card can be viewed at this link.

The 14-race card at Pocono Saturday will start an hour earlier than usual, with first post listed at 5:30 p.m. The racing is part of a weeklong celebration of Pocono’s 50th anniversary, with fireworks after the races and an appearance by Pete Rose during the day’s activities.