from the PHHA/Pocono

Wilkes-Barre, PA — The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono has scheduled five $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for 2-year-old colt pacers on Sunday (July 1).

The top pacing colt trainers of the last few years all have multiple entries in the stakes sessions. Ron Burke has seven in, Brian Brown has five, and Ray Schnittker has four.

Despite the fact that race day is the first day of July, the collective fields already have ten horses who have won in 1:56 or better, including six who have gone 1:54 or less (qualifier races and pari-mutuels treated equally throughout).

There are eight horses in the All-Stars who have already twice crossed the wire first, including three who have beaten 1:55 in each of their two victories: Semi Tough (race three, post one, Burke), Blood Money (race five, post seven, Jimmy Takter), and Captain Malicious (race seven, post seven, Schnittker).

And that listing doesn’t even include the fastest 2-year-old of 2018 at the time of this writing, De Los Cielos Deo. This member of the Burke Brigade, on June 18 over the Gaitway mile track, won in 1:52.3 while coming his own last three-quarters in an astounding 1:21.3, in his second lifetime start (he won the first in 1:56.4–:27). De Los Cielos Deo drew the eight-hole, just outside of his fellow son of Captaintreacherous, Captain Malicious, in the seventh race, the last of the five All-Stars divisions.

Finishing Lines: Pocono will have a sixth $30,000 race on Sunday night, a Great Northeast Open Series event for pacing mares. Caviart Ally, who won in the GNOS last week from the rail at Philadelphia and paid $72.20 to win, finds the other two series winners starting from more difficult spots: L A Delight from post six and Tequila Monday from post eight.