by PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — The spotlight was put to overtime service on a rainy Saturday night (Oct.1) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as star performances were turned in by feature race winner Keystone Velocity, harness racing’s all-time money champ Foiled Again and driver George Napolitano Jr.

Curtis Salonick photo

Foiled Again collects his 89th career triumph in 1:51.1 at Pocono Downs on Saturday.

Keystone Velocity, an 8-year-old stallion who has always been one of history’s footnotes as the least-expensive yearling from the last crop of great stallion Western Hanover, again showed that he is much, much more than a footnote in taking the $25,000 winners-over handicap pace in stunning fashion, equaling his lifetime mark of 1:48.2 over sloppy going in a field that included Rockin Ron and Mel Mara.

Simon Allard sent the Barry Probber trainee, whose owner Lauretta Galm was his $3,000 purchaser and made some profit on the horse as he has earned $499,221, up after the streaking gateleaver Bushwacker, who carried the winner past a searing 25.3 quarter (in off going) before yielding. Keystone Velocity got the half in 53.3, saw Mel Mara charging uncovered down the back and upped the tempo to 1:20.4 at the three-quarters, and then maintained a safe margin to the wire, with Bushwacker in the Pocono Pike second and Mel Mara third, ahead of Rockin Ron.

Napolitano and Oakes, the leaders in their respective categories at Pocono in 2016, combined to win half of the first eight races on Saturday. After their victory with Ideal Candidate in race five, George Napolitano Jr. was feted by Pocono management for becoming only the 32nd driver in harness racing history to achieve 8,000 driving victories, which he accomplished in the first race at Harrah’s Philadelphia Friday (Sept. 30).

Napolitano added a fifth victory in a $15,500 conditioned trot with Wilberforce, making a sweeping move in the latter stages with the altered son of Caviar Crown and coming home on an uncontested lead, tallying in 1:54.2 to take his ninth victory of the season for trainer Kris Rickert, the co-owner with Dale Wareham.

In a companion-class $15,500 event for pacers, Theartofconfusion A handled a slight step-up in class with relative ease upon coming in from Yonkers, the Riverboat King gelding stopping the clock in 1:50.3 for driver Pat Berry, trainer Jeffrey Smith, and the Saddle Rock Stables.

And then there was the gallant 12-year-old pacer Foiled Again, raising his career win total to 89 wins in 267 starts and his history-altering bankroll to $7,416,508 with a seasonal best 1:51.1 for trainer Ron Burke and driver Dave Palone. Palone is the winningest driver in harness history, whose own career tally behind Foiled Again is now 8-5-2-1-$243,750.

Foiled Again, owned by the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Weaver Bruscemi LLC, and JJK Stables LLC, also has a fine history at Pocono, with six wins and 11 board finishes in 15 local starts worth $782,661. The bulk of the Dragon Again gelding’s local haul came of course in 2013 with sloppy tracks wins here in the Franklin Final and Breeders Crown Final. He’s four of five lifetime in the Pocono slop.