Wilkes-Barre, PA — Dante Scattolini and Bob Hechkoff won their respective $11,000 American Harness Drivers Club events on Sunday (July 31) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono: Scattolini with Spree in 1:57, and Hechkoff with River Otter in 1:55.1.

In his split, Scattolini settled in third as Take Shane (James O’Donnell) led the field by the first quarter in :26.4. While on the engine, O’Donnell and Take Shape passed the half in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:26.2 — but Spree had joined him at that point. When the field headed into the stretch, Possess The Stone (Tony Verruso) moved into second but could go no farther as Spree trotted clear and went on to a four-length triumph over Verruso’s charge. Third place went to My Big Kadillac (Mike Polansky).

Spree, owned by Scattolini and trained by Bryson Dunning, paid $9.40 to win.

In the other division, Hechkoff and River Otter started from post two and parked Walkingintherain (Kubi Erzene) through a :56.3 half before Erzene’s trotter faded — but Natural Kemp (O’Donnell) picked up the chase from the pocket. When River Otter rounded the final turn and headed for home, he was tiring — but still had enough in the tank to turn back the hard-charging Natural Kemp and win by a neck in 1:55.1. Third place went to Tidquist (Tony Beltrami).

River Otter, owned by Hechkoff’s R.B.H. Ventures Inc. and trained by Juan Cano, paid $19.40 to win.