The Championships should be exciting races to watch, and certainly will pose a difficult challenge to handicappers and bettors; consider the following facts:
--Twelve of the sixteen horses will be going for the big money in their first outing for new connections, as they were claimed out of their last preliminary race (everybody will be going home with whoever brought them to this dance, as there is no claiming out of the Game Of Claims Championships);
--Every one of the sixteen horses had at least one victory doing the GOC preliminary legs, and half that number had two; however, the extremely competitive action yielded no horse who could “sweep” their three prelims (a fact that will be true for the rest of the Game Of Claims divisions as well).
Add in “usual” handicapping factors as raw ability and speed, likely racing position, and (an important one here) which horses were picked by drivers named on several horses in a race, and the fans will have a big though enjoyable challenge weighing the merits of the contestants.
Also on the Saturday card at Pocono is a $25,000 winners-over trotting event, slotted fifth on the fifteen-race card. Other undercard highlights include races on both gaits for conditioned horses, both climbing the classladder and proven veterans, and high-priced claimers for those not quite making the Game Of Claims Championships.
Post time for this exciting Saturday program is 1:30 p.m.; program pages are available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.