Wilkes-Barre, PA – The lure of $2.3 million in purses, plus in many cases divisional bragging rights, have attracted a sizable portion of harness racing’s stars to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania for its biggest card of the year, Sun Stakes Saturday, this Saturday afternoon (Aug. 22). The 14-race program starts at 2:30 p.m. (EDT).
The major format of the day is as follows: each of the four divisions of 3-year-olds, separated by sex and gait, are seeded by their money-earnings in 2026, with a maximum of eight horses per field. The two stakes for males, the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial Trot and the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace, will race for $300,000, $200,000, and $100,000 in three races for each respective group as sorted by seasonal money-winnings. The James M. Lynch Memorial Pace and Delmonica Hanover Trot, the companion events for fillies, have $250,000-$125,000-$75,000 sections, with their fields also separated by 2026 earnings.
There will also be $100,000 invitationals for the top older horses on both gaits: the Always B Miki Pace and the Sebastian K Trot, named after the co-fastest pacer and fastest trotter ever at Pocono.
Here is a brief look at the top horses in the major contests on the Sun Stakes Saturday card, per event, beginning with the paces.
MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL PACE ($300,000 division race 12; $200,000 division race 8, $100,000 division race 4):
The crown in the “glamour boys” group has been passed around several times this season; the Hempt may give us a better “read” on who is king of the hill at this point.
You can’t leave anybody out of consideration, so from post 1 to post 8 (asterisk* indicates one of three Ron Burke entrants in the race): Melillo* followed up a head loss in the Adios final with a win in the Milstein on Saturday; Brandon Blvd had been the most consistent of these until he came up a bit flat in the Cane; Al Papi* was powerful in both his Adios miles, and missed by a head in the Meadowlands Pace; Odds On Mr Mamba won the North America Cup and his Adios elim; he could do on his best mile.
On the right side of the gate: Beau Jangles, Horse of the Year in 2025 and winner of his first 15 races, but then 0-for-5 since; Sweet Lovin Lou and Gentleman’s Club, who finished 1-2 in the Cane; and Pennsylvania Sire Stakes multiple winner Another C Note*.
JAMES LYNCH MEMORIAL PACE ($250,000 division race 10; $125,000 division race 6, $75,000 division race 2):
Loua Dipa, last year’s divisional champion, looked on top of this group, but then tried the boys in the Adios and was unlucky and unsuccessful, and she has not been seen since.
Three fillies looking to fill the “Loua Dipa” void start from the middle of the field in the Lynch. Sangria Summer has won three of her last four starts, in the last beating her two main Lynch rivals in the Shady Daisy on Hambletonian Day – Darlin’s Angel, winner of over 50% in her career and just a head away in the Shady Daisy; and Be Perfect BG, who had 10 wins over two years and two photo losses to Loua Dipa, earning her favoritism in the Shady Daisy, and missed only three parts of a length in third after setting a fast pace. The late-developing Miss Jum Jabber was not eligible.
EARL BEAL MEMORIAL TROT ($300,000 division race 13; $200,000 division race 9, $100,000 division race 3):
Hambletonian and 2-year-old champion Apex has been lightly campaigned all year per his stable’s philosophy, with only five starts to date, and has been kept out of the Beal; the horse who staged such a memorable stretch duel with him, Big Ranger, was not made eligible. This gives other good horses a chance to raise their divisional profile.
Minoan, third in the Hambo at 103-1, followed up with a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes triumph at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows last Saturday. Inexpressable, the Yonkers Trot champion, comes off a win in the Muscle Hill at the Meadowlands. Three others in the Beal – AI, Magic Punk, and Spencer Hanover – qualified for the Hambletonian final, but were disadvantageously-placed and finished well back in the big race; they have the credentials to win on their best effort.
DELMONICA HANOVER TROT ($250,000 division race 11; $125,000 division race 7, $75,000 division race 1):
Setyoursightshigh, the Dan Patch award winner in this group in 2025, is finding her top form at a good time; she won her Hambletonian Oaks elimination and then was third in the final after having to go first-over. Victorianas Secret is obviously a very fast filly; she has won four of her last five, but her timing was not good in that her loss was in her Hambletonian Oaks elim. She made an early error then tried to rectify it by coming home in :54 – :25.3, only to lose by three lengths while sixth. And the hometown favorite will be Little Road, trained by 80-years-young Roger Hammer, who shows four wins, one in a PA Sire Stakes, and two PaSS photo defeats in her last six lines.
SEBASTIAN K TROT ($100,000; race 5):
The Burke stable has an embarrassment of riches in this division, and for the Sebastian K they have sent a very good representative: Lexus Kody, 2025 Trotter of the Year, Yonkers International winner, and a head shy of being on a four-race win streak. Forty career victories and earnings of $2.23 million speak to his durability and talent.
His main competitor appears to be Nordic Catcher S (from the barn of new Hall of Famer Åke Svanstedt), who was the 2025 Hambletonian champion, then away from the races for almost a year. A win and a solid fourth in his two races in 2026 could suggest that he is approaching a very big mile. And don’t overlook Sir Pinocchio, who wheels right back in after a 1:51.1 lifetime mark at Pocono on Monday.
ALWAYS B MIKI PACE ($100,000; race 14):
Here’s another division that’s been searching for a leader, and it might now have found one, and he’s a local horse – Dandy Ideal, trained and part-owned in this area. Dandy Ideal went out to Harrah’s Hoosier Park last week and tied a track record in a 1:47.2 victory in the Dan Patch Stakes, and he paced that same time in equaling a world record at Pocono a few weeks back.
Captain Albano and Ken Hanover are familiar names who are “outsiders” in the Always B Miki in that they have drawn posts 7 and 8, respectively. Another “outsider” could be Surreal Ideal, who draws well and who has sandwiched two Meadows Open victories around a third-place finish (after coming from eighth at the stretch call) in a division of the Sam McKee Memorial on Hambletonian Day.
The undercard doesn’t lack for firepower, either; among the consolations are three horses who won their Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship last season: Ginger Tree Lex (3TF), Frantic Hanover (3PC), and Say Goodnight (3PF).
The Sun Stakes Saturday supercard will also have four guaranteed pools in multi-race bets, in conjunction with the USTA’s Strategic Wagering program.
Late Pick-4 (races 10-13, the four major stakes) — $20,000 guaranteed pool;
Early Pick-4 (races 1-4) — $10,000 guaranteed pool;
Pick-5 (races 5-9) — $5,000 guaranteed pool;
Late Pick-3 (races 9-11) — $5,000 guaranteed pool.
The final scratches and driver changes will be posted early Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 18) on the U.S. Trotting Association website.
Program pages will be available at some point afterward at www.phha.org.