by Jennifer Starr, for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs

Wilkes-Barre, PA — The first qualifiers of the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono’s 2016 season were held at the track in Northeast Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning (March 8). Under partly sunny skies and a temperature of nearly 60 degrees, six trotting and five pacing qualifying races were held.

Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono photo

The fifth qualifying race, a trot, saw the fastest time of the trotters of 1:56.4 for Chipoffthewall, a 3-year-old black gelding trained by Syl King Jr. and driven this morning by one of Pocono’s leading drivers, Anthony Napolitano.

The fastest pacing time belonged to Toatsmygoats in the eighth race. John Kakaley drove the 4-year-old gelding trained by Nick Surick, who finished in 1:54.

The second qualifying races of the season are set for Wednesday (March 9) morning at 10 a.m., with 11 more on tap. Next Wednesday (March 16) is also set aside for qualifiers, and each Wednesday after that.

The track opens for its 2016 season on Saturday (March 19) with a post time of 6:30 p.m. In March, racing will be held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and in April, racing moves to the regular schedule of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.