Wilkes-Barre, PA — The Bar Hopping gelding That Ole Bar Stool, backed down to 1-20 favoritism, defeated a game El Toro Loco by a neck in 1:55 to take the $50,000 Bobby Weiss Series final for sophomore trotting males on Saturday afternoon (April 23) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

That Ole Bar Stool dug in to repel El Toro Loco in Saturday’s Bobby Weiss Series final. Curtis Salonick photo.

El Toro Loco, who won his first two Weiss preliminaries before taking last week off, hustled out for the lead. Meanwhile, That Ole Bar Stool — who skipped the first prelim, had missed El Toro Loco by a neck in the middle series leg, and then posted a giant 1:54.3 victory last week — gradually advanced past a :28.3 quarter and reached the front before a :57.3 half under the guidance of Matt Kakaley.

That Ole Bar Stool hit three-quarters in 1:26.4 as Backstreet Player came up to challenge, but he turned back that rival before withstanding the stretch rally of El Toro Loco with a :28.1 last quarter. Trained by Bobby Clark for Clark Stables LLC and Tina Clark, That Ole Bar Stool now has five wins and two second-place finishes in eight seasonal starts.

In the $20,000 Weiss consolation for this group, the Father Patrick gelding Ducasse was three-wide much of the :28.2 first quarter, then led comfortably for driver Scott Zeron through middle splits of :58.2 and 1:26.4. Ducasse maintained an open lead until deep stretch, when Dandy closed furiously to miss by a neck while Ducasse took a new mark of 1:55.2. The winner is two-for-two in 2022 for trainer Nancy Takter and the ownership of Brixton Medical Inc., Christina Takter, Hatfield Stables and Fair Island Farm.

There were also three $20,000 third-round prelims of the Weiss for pacing males, with their $50,000 final to be held next Saturday. And the So Surreal gelding Lanjo Lee did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of his supporters with his third Weiss win and his fifth of an undefeated 2022, taking a new mark of 1:51.2 in the act.

Tyler Buter had Lanjo Lee on the move from fourth just before the :27.2 opener, and the pair cleared easily and hung up mid-race fractions of :55.3 and 1:24. A closing kicker of :27.2 left the opposition 2-1/2 lengths behind for Lanjo Lee’s smallest winning margin of the year for trainer Jeff Sorenson and owner Gordon Swift.

Huntsville geldings accounted for the other two Weiss prelims. The first was Kingsville, who broke as the favorite in his only series start, but rebounded with a :55.2 back half to upset heavy favorite Captaingiddyupngo while lowering his mark to 1:53.1 for driver Simon Allard, trainer Deborah Daguet, and the ownership of D Racing Stable Inc. and B & I Stables LLC.

Another winner in the Weiss was Letmecallyouback, who quarter-moved to command, then stepped home in :27.3 for a new mark of 1:53.3 for trainer Jenn Bongiorno and the ownership of Joseph Di Scala Jr., Pit Bull Stable LLC and Patrick O’Brien. Letmecallyouback was one of three driving wins for Jason Bartlett, who tied with George Napolitano Jr. for the day’s honors.

Racing at Pocono resumes Sunday (April 24) with a 5:00 p.m. card, when fillies and mares looking to make a name for themselves will meet in a $17,000 featured pace. Pocono will also host racing on Monday (April 25), featuring $50,000 Weiss Series finals for fillies on both gaits, and Tuesday (April 26) at 1:30 p.m. Program pages will be available at the PHHA website.