By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Confident Volo won his second straight preliminary in the Bobby Weiss Series for sophomore trotting males Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, but Captain Vodka earned the major honors on the day by beating two other first-round winners and taking a new lifetime mark of 1:54.4 in another of three $17,500 Series events.
 
Captain Vodka, a Captain Corey gelding trained by Robert Baggitt Jr for himself, Christine Baggitt, and J L Sadowsky LLC, had a three-race win streak over two years broken with a hard-luck two-move fifth in the first Weiss leg. But on Monday he rejoined the win column, being parked to a :27.2 opener for command, after which driver Ridge Warren was able to back off the half to :57.2.
 
The pace sped up to a 1:25.4 three-quarters, and through the stretch Captain Vodka absolutely left no doubt of his supremacy this day, winning by 3 3/4 lengths over two other first-leg winners: Phoebus Hanover was second, and the previously-undefeated Dilly Hanover third after racing inside and appearing in tight quarters in the lane.
 
Confident Volo is now unbeaten in three 2026 starts after winning in 1:55.4, with identical back quarters of :28.3. The Bar Hopping gelding, second choice in the betting, was quite good but he also literally “got the breaks,” as five of seven rivals miscued, including wagering choices ranked 1-3-4-5. Tyler Buter, defending Pocono driving champion and ahead again this year, was in the sulky for trainer Todd Buter and Oldford Racing LLC.
 
The other Weiss section went to series newcomer King Of The Wind, who was five-wide early and on the rim until the three-eighths before taking control of the throttle. Driver Anthony Napolitano kept the Walner gelding going on the point, withstanding favored Bee Positive by three parts of a length in a lifetime best 1:55.1 for hot trainer Joe Bongiorno and El Dorado Stables.
 
“Anthony Nap” got a tremendous performance from the Cattlewash mare Worklifebalance, a New Jersey heroine last year at three, to end Raspalia N’s six-race Stateside win streak in 1:50 in a $17,500 pace for distaffs. The field was five in – three out at the :27 quarter, with Worklifebalance the last to the front approaching the :55.1 half. Raspalia N was on the winner’s back to and beyond the 1:22.1 three-quarters and fought on gamely, but Worklifebalance ended the win skein of her foe by a head for trainer Noel Daley, co-owner with KDP Stable LLC.
 
Raspalia N was knocked down to the shortest odds possible, and in upsetting that rival Worklifebalance paid $51.80 to win, combining with first race winner Xmarxthespot ($91.60) to give Pocono its first 2026 day of two $50+ win prices.
 
Many-time Pocono champion George Napolitano Jr. drove three winners on the card, including two for the meet’s leading trainer and only conditioner with a pair of Monday victories, Per Engblom. Driving doubles were recorded by Simon Allard, Braxten Boyd, Anthony Napolitano, and Ridge Warren.
 
The Weiss Series fillies will race their second preliminary round on the Tuesday 1 p.m. card, with four divisions of trotters and three of pacers looking to earn spots in their $50,000 Weiss Championships at the end of April. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha,org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA – Twin B Thriller and Ooglesaurus are both two-for-two after four $17,500 divisions of the second preliminary of the Bobby Weiss Pacing Series for three-year-old males, conducted Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
The Always B Miki colt Twin B Thriller posted a shocking 1:49.4 clocking in his first Weiss prelim, and he had the same margin of victory, 1¾ lengths, after a 1:51.3 jaunt on Saturday. A early “stablemate” of his at the Twinbrook Limited nursery, Twin B Manhunt, rode in the pocket behind him and took second in a :55 back half behind the winner, driven by George Napolitano Jr. for trainer Dennis A Laterza and owners Ginko Stable Inc. and Latz A Luck Stable.
 
The Lazarus N gelding Ooglesaurus also doubled up in the Weiss, making a second move out of the pocket while dashing home in :27.1 in a 1:52.2 mile to catch favored Stingman by 1¼  lengths. Brett Beckwith had the lines for trainer Joe Bongiorno and Morrison Racing Stables.
 
The fastest of Saturday’s Weiss races, 1:51, saw the Perfect Sting gelding Thisbeestingsdeo break his maiden at 18-1. Matt Kakaley gave the Ron Burke trainee a nice third-in trip behind three sub-:28 quarters, then moved him out on the far turn and had enough late kick to thwart Pocono Pike shooter Justinian by a neck for Burke Racing Stable Inc., Lawrence Karr, Phil Collura, and Brad Grant.
 
Winning the other Weiss prelim, and taking a new mark of 1:52.1 in doing so, was the Stay Hungry gelding Northern Attitude, who benefitted from a pocket journey then had enough to turn back the fast-closing Hunthehuntr De Vie by a neck while pacing his own back half in :55.3. Ridge Warren drove for trainer Jake Leamon, who is also co-owner with Winners Circle Racing LLC.
 
In a $20,000 fast-class pace, Da Delightful showed he still has plenty of speed at age 10, the Bettor’s Delight gelding raising his lifetime bankroll to $601,983 after a 1:50.4 tally. Da Delightful was flying late after racing second-over to catch pacesetter Jackson Cooper by a half length for driver Braxten Boyd and trainer-owner Mark Silva.
 
“The BB Boys,” drivers Braxten Boyd and Brett Beckwith (the last two winners of USHWA’s Rising Star Award), combined to take down half of the fourteen race card. Boyd won four times, twice for both trainers Mark Silva and Tee Wine, while Beckwith’s trio included two for the meet’s top trainer Per Engblom. Three drivers clad in red and white, the Napolitano brothers (Anthony and George Jr.) and Ridge Warren, each visited Victory Lane twice on the afternoon.
 
Pocono next races on Monday at 1 p.m., when Weiss sophomore trotting males will find each of the three first-round winners looking to double up in the series. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Sophomore fillies were in the Weiss Series spotlight on Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, as four fields of trotters and three of pacers each went for $17,500 purses in their first round preliminaries.
 
Despite stiff winds, a temperature hovering near 40 degrees, and 16-1 tote board status, the Huntsville miss Vanna By The River made a shambles of her pacing division, pacing wire-to-wire in 1:53.3 to break her maiden in her 13th career start. Braxten Boyd opened his advantage on the rest of the field throughout the last quarter, as Vanna By The River scored the powerful victory for trainer Cory Stratton and Our Three Sons Stable LLC.
 
American Cheese, fresh off winning her 2026 debut at Yonkers six days ago, came right back to take her Weiss division in 1:54.4, the daughter of American Idea guided by Jason Bartlett for trainer Jared Bako and the partnership of Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and Philip Steinberg. In the other section on this gait the Bettor’s Wish filly Miss Jum Jabber sat just off a dawdling pace set by Sundownsomewhere, then still could gain into a :27 sprint to the wire to beat the pacesetter by a head in 1:55.2 and win her second consecutive start, with Bradley Chisholm handling the lines for trainer Brett Pelling and his Pelling Racing LLC.
 
Driver Tim Tetrick and sire Captain Corey accounted for two of the four trotting cuts of the Weiss, including the quickest and most decisive winner, Cynic, who came over from The Meadows and ran her 2026 tally to 4-3-1-0 while lowering her mark to 1:55.3, 5¾ lengths to the good for trainer Britney Dillon and Joseph Musser Trust. The other successful pairing between the driver and sire came with Lady Tessie Marie, who won her seasonal bow in 1:58.4 for trainer Scott Di Domenico and the ownership combine of Angela Cornell and Tessie Esry.
 
Jason Bartlett added a Weiss trot win to his pacing triumph in guiding the Gimpanzee filly Concise to a 1:57.4 mark in her first race since last July, with the only diamondgaited favorite to win trained by Nik Drennan, whose Drennan Stable LLC sharing ownership with Joseph Davino and Brad Stockman. The Tactical Landing miss Allioop Blue Chip reduced her tab to 1:56.1 by taking another Weiss trot for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Noel Daley, and owners R. Lynn and Philomena Curry.
 
Drivers Tetrick and Bartlett posted doubles on the day as noted; they were joined by Boyd, who also won an overnight, and Simon Allard, who bookended the card. Fourteen different barns sent out winners on the afternoon.
 
Pacing males come back for their second Weiss preliminary when racing returns to the Downs on Saturday at 1 p.m.; all four first-round winners will be looking to make it two straight. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Three-year-old male trotters competed in three $17,500 first round preliminaries of their Bobby Weiss Series at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon. All three winners were making their second starts of the year, and two were Bar Hopping geldings driven by Tyler Buter, but the fastest was Dilly Hanover, an altered son of International Moni who is undefeated in two career starts.
 
Unraced at two, Dilly Hanover won his career bow in 1:56.3 last Tuesday, and six days later he came back and lowered his mark to 1:56.1 for driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Emily Bost, the latter co-owner with R K 4 Racing and Bruce James Potter. “Dilly” was out three-eighths until clearing Finn McCool, then got a stern challenge from the pocketsitter through the last quarter, forcing a :28.2 kicker to preserve the victory as the two-holer lapsed very late from gait in his 2026 bow.
 
The faster of the two Tyler Buter / Bar Hopping success stories was Confident Volo, who rallied from fifth at the stretch call to get home first in 1:57.2. Confident Volo, the heavy favorite, was handled as his name would suggest to remain unbeaten after two starts this campaign for trainer Todd Buter and Oldford Racing LLC.
 
Phoebus Hanover broke his maiden in his second career start in 1:57.3 in the other Weiss split, surprising the assembled while paying $37.60 to win. Buter sat third on the rail much of the way, then found room between horses, and “Phoebus” came through shining to notch the win for trainer Nifty Norman and his Enzed Racing Stable Inc., co-owner with Dean Lockhart.
 
Raspalia N (a New Zealand mare named after a plant found only in South Africa and named for a French botanist) stayed unbeaten after six Stateside starts while taking a $17,500 distaff pacing contest in a new mark of 1:51.2. It was a rollercoaster of a trip for the daughter of Johny Rock – parked two-wide from the start to the five-eighths, then blindswitched, then three-wide with then without cover, back to two-wide covered on the turn then again three-deep for the stretch – but Buter had the mare to surmount the hard journey for trainer Agostino Abbatiello and Durrazano Stable LLC.
 
In all, Tyler Buter, defending driving champion and 2026 leader, won six times during the Monday action at Pocono, tying Brett Beckwith’s one-day seasonal high at the northeast Pennsylvania track. Simon Allard and Braxten Boyd guided two winners apiece. On the training side, “T. Buter” was also the top conditioner of the day, as Todd Buter was the only doubler.
 
Fillies take over the Weiss Series spotlight on Tuesday’s 1 p.m. card at Pocono, with four divisions of trotters and three of pacers contesting their first preliminary round. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Weiss Series for developing three-year-olds in all divisions started its April-long stay at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday, with Twin B Thriller getting the pacing male sector off to a flying start with a 1:49.4 victory in his $17,500 division of the first prelim on a very nice day.
 
Unraced since September 13, Twin B Thriller had won four of six at two and took two straight qualifiers before his yearly bow, but his final clocking, beating his old mark by three seconds, was a shocker. George Napolitano Jr. took early control from the pole with the Always B Miki colt and kept it while Stingman, coming from The Meadows off four straight wins and bringing Dave Palone along, dueled hard for the lead, this ultimate “Pennsylvania East vs. West” battle resulting in stinging fractions of :26.4, :53.4, and 1:21.3.
 
Twin B Thriller had more left in the tank in the stretch and went on to lower his mark by three full seconds. Making his first start for trainer Dennis A. Laterza and the ownership of Ginko Stable Inc. and Latz A Luck Stable, Twin B Thriller did not look tired at the end, and it will be interesting to follow his development.
 
Napolitano took another Weiss section, one of three wins on the card that tied him for day’s honors with Matt Kakaley, with the Sweet Lou gelding Magic Monarch, who lowered his mark 5 2/5 second by stopping the timer in 1;51.4 while victorious for trainer Kevin Lare (who ironically trained Twin B Thriller last year) and owner Frank Chick.
 
The Captaintreacherous gelding Barrow is undefeated in four 2026 races, all at Pocono, and he too reduced his mark to 1:51.2 – but in an unconventional way. Vizcaya came out of the two-hole on the far turn and crossed the wire first, but it was ruled that he caused interference in coming free on the last bend, and thus Barrow got the victory and credit for his own electronic timing. Brett Pelling trains the sophomore, and Brad Chisholm was in his usual perch behind the biggest checkgetter for Let It Ride Stable Inc., Morrison Racing Stables, and Jesmeral Stable.
 
Making it a clean sweep of new lifetime marks generated by Weiss combatants was Ooglesaurus, whose 1:52 time dropped his best by 2 2/5 seconds. Brett Beckwith had the steer behind the altered son of Lazarus N for trainer Joe Bongiorno, giving Morrison Racing Stables a Weiss double.
 
There were three $17,500 divisions of a class for up-and-coming horses, each notable in its own way. The one pacing sector saw the Captaintreacherous gelding Jackson Cooper tie for fastest mile of the day at 1:49.4, giving driver Beckwith and Jesmeral Stable two Saturday wins. On the trot, Non Disclosure  earned driver Bobby Crivokapich Jr. his first lifetime sulky success as he lowered his mark to 1:53.3, while the other section went faster, with Te Amo Lindy (Napolitano Jr.) setting sail for a 1:53 victory.
 
The latter’s clocking was the fastest trot time of 2026 at Pocono – for 169 minutes, until the Walner mare Sapphirerainstar lowered her speed badge to 1:52.2 for the A 1 Racing partners of driver Simon Allard and trainer Mark Akins.
 
The winner of the fast-class pace, at $27,500 the richest purse of the day, and achieving his 50thlifetime victory deserves a mention. That would be the Shadow Play gelding Backstreet Shadow, who led for 5280 feet in the 1:50.2 mile for Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander, and owners Eric Prevost and Fiddler’s Creek Stable Stables LLC, while raising his bankroll to $1,819,048.
 
The Saturday excitement carried to the very last race of the day, where Rum N Raisins won for the seventh time on the campaign, putting him in a 14-way tie for second among North American winners this year, one behind the pacing mare Golden Magic. The 14-1 shot also headed a High 5 wager that nobody hit, meaning it would join the unsolved Pick 5 bet bringing carryovers to Monday’s racing.
 
Driver Anthony Napolitano and trainer Darren Taneyhill joined the aforementioned as doublers on the day.
 
Weiss Series first round racing continues Monday with trotting male action, and on Tuesday with fillies on both gaits headlining. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Fiftydallarbill gelding Fiftyshadesofblu is now three-for-three for trainer Britney Dillon and the Joseph Musser Trust, coming to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania and overcoming the outside eight-hole to win the $15,500 featured trot at the mountain oval Tuesday.
 
Tyler Buter, the winningest driver at Pocono last year and this, showed the patient sulky skills  that have helped him four feature races in the last five PcD cards, gradually working forward with the Hoosier shipper to make the lead near the :28 quarter, then easing back to rate a :58 half. The trotter accelerated with the backstretch tailwind to hit the three-quarters in 1:26.2, and he named his own margin to the wire, eventually finishing 5 1/2 lengths to the good while lowering his mark to 1:55.3.
 
Plenty of hopefuls for the upcoming Weiss Series for developing three-year-olds raced on the Tuesday card after having been declared in for the Weiss first preliminaries – on Saturday for pacing colts, and on Monday for their trotting counterparts. The two victorious sidewheelers were Barrow, a Captaintreacherous gelding who is three-for three this year for driver Bradley Chisholm and trainer Brett Pelling after winning in 1:52.1, and the Huntsville gelding Casper The Ghost, starting off his season by taking a new mark of 1:53.1, back half :56.1,  for Buter and trainer Ray Schnittker.
 
On the diamondgaited side, the International Moni gelding Dilly Hanover stepped his back half in :56.3 to make a successful career bow in 1:56.3 for driven Braxten Boyd and trainer Emily Bost, while the Captain Corey gelding Captain Micah broke his maiden with a 1:58.3 tally for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Travis Alexander.
 
All of the day’s top horsemen were represented in these quality races: Boyd and Buter had driving triples, and Kakaley a driving double; Schnittker was the only trainer who had a pair of victories.
 
As noted, the Weiss Series begins during the track’s next card on Saturday at 1 p.m., with the pacing colts joined by fast-class pacers going for $27,500; the trotting colts will headline Monday, and both gaits of fillies will be featured on the Tuesday program. Each of the four groupings has three $17,500 preliminary rounds, with the top performers squaring off in four $50,000 Championships starting on Saturday, April 25.
 
Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.