By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Walner gelding Chef Rocco posted a 11-1 upset in the $14,000 featured conditioned trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia on “Trottin’ Thursday” afternoon, winning in 1:53.3 after heavy favorite Secret Agent Man, coming off a 1:51.1 qualifier here at Philly in readying for his seasonal debut, fell victim to his breaking bugaboo, going offstride on the lead on the far turn.
 
The five outer horses wanted a part of the early action after the inside trio did not get away well. Chef Rocco was first to the lead, putting Im An Andover in behind him, then eventually yielding to Blockchain, who disdained a tuck and pressed on to command after a :27.4 opener. Secret Agent Man, starting from the outside post eight, also declined a pylon spot and went up to challenge Blockchain, clearing him for the top going towards a :55.3 half.
 
Late in the backstretch Secret Agent Man opened a clear advantage to a 1:23.4 three-quarters, with Blockbuster not keeping the pocket tight and the outer tiers ineffectual. But a little more than an eighth of a mile out, the favorite lost his composure, and with the pocket horse both not strong and moving a path outside to avoid any trouble from the breaker, Chef Rocco able to move right through and trot to the fore, winning by 1¼ lengths. Im An Andover, at 95-1, came up inside of him to finish second, with Soar Higher, one of the inside-drawing horses not getting away well, even further down in the passing lane and along for third.
 
Todd McCarthy masterminded the upset for trainer-driver Mark Akins.
 
The Father Patrick mare Prominence was ready for and flat in her seasonal debut, winning the $13,000 co-featured trot in 1:54.1 for the ownership of Pinske Stables, Melvin Hartman, and Little E LLC. Trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt pulled the mare uncovered from the second half of the field not too long after Herecomesdajudge, wide early, took the point in :29, then grinded up with his mare as the leader posted midsplits of :57.2 and 1:25.3. Herecomesdajudge was still in command into the stretch, but Svanstedt had a good sense of what he had in front of him and Prominence was able to record a length victory.
 
Racing at Harrah’s Philadelphia will continue on Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40, with the track already at work for one of its biggest days of the year: “Super Sunday,” coming a week from Sunday on the 25th. Three $100,000 Invitationals for the elite older performers will be matched with Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for three-year-old pacing males on what is traditionally one of the best days of the Standardbred year in the state. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org. 

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 

WILKES-BARRE PA – The Chapter Seven gelding Chapolier continues to be the winningest trotter in North America this year, posting his tenth win in an undefeated 2025 at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania while taking the $16,000 featured handicap trot in 1:53.1, a new mark achieved over “good” going.
 
Chapolier, entered for the top $30,000 pricetag and thus getting the outside post eight, was in a familiar spot early – very wide entering the first turn as many foes yet again tried to establish position with the advantage of an inner start on him. Chapolier fell in behind cover for most of the first turn, then went on uncovered past the :27.1 quarter to get to the top, which he achieved for driver George Napolitano Jr., paying the price of a :55.1 half.
 
The fractions continued faster than usual as Chapolier went to the three-quarters in 1:23.4, but when several well-placed opponents took their best shot in the lane, Chapolier was ready – if anything, he slightly widened his margin from midstretch on.
 
An earner of $78,000 in his ten races at Pocono, Chapolier cannot be mentioned without telling of his record changing barns. This week he was with trainer Brandon Presto and owner Rocco Stebbins for a second time in The Streak, and again he had only a seven-day stay with that management, as he was taken for the $30,000 tag by P T Stable – the fourth time they have claimed the horse.
 
George Santayana is credited with saying “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” and there were amazing parallels between young trotter Ake Palema on Tuesday and young trotter Jamais Vu, who raced at Pocono two days previously. Both are Walner sophomore colts from the barn of Lucas Wallin who qualified evenly for a “Q” driver in their first line of the year, then picked up three-time Pocono defending driving leader Matt Kakaley and entered a maiden event for international ownership.
 
Jamais Vu won on Sunday in 1:53.4; Tuesday Ake Palema won in 1:53.4 (over “good” going, no less) for an even more far-flung group of owners: Wallin Racing Stable Inc. (NJ), Harbor Racing Stable LLC (Ontario), Karin Walter-Mommert (Germany), and Glenn Holland (Australia).
 
By the way, the Pocono bettors learned: Jamais Vu was the second choice, whereas Ake Palema was sent off as the crowd’s favorite.
 
The win with Ake Palema was one of three on the card for Kakaley, giving him top honors for the card.
 
The Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series make their 2025 debuts at Pocono on Saturday’s 1 p.m. card, with over $260,000 to be contested. The highlight should be a Sire Stakes showdown between Louprint, Dan Patch Award winner for this division last year, against Twisted Destiny, winner of six straight and a faster winner in the first PaSS prelim (1:49.1 vs. 1:49.3). Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Once again the “Cancelliere Breakfast Special” was on the menu of the Tuesday morning qualifiers at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with Maximus Miki and then Ruthless Hanover easily winning the first two of the qualifiers for the team of trainer Tom Cancelliere and owner John Cancelliere.
 
Ruthless Hanover was again the main entrée, as the eight-year-old roared through fractions of :28, :55.2, and 1:23 en route to a 6¾ length victory in 1:51 with the guidance of George Napolitano Jr. The Somebeachsomewhere gelding went the fastest mile ever on a 5/8-mile track when he won here in the 2023 Joseph Auger Memorial, stopping the clock in 1:46.3. Last year he defending his Auger title successfully, in 1:47.2. But the Auger was his fifth start of 2023 and second of 2024, and with his 2025 card showing nothing but this qualifier and a Q win on April 29 in 1:53.1, it will be interesting if “Ruthless” tries for a three-peat on “Super Sunday” just twelve days hence.
 
Maximus Miki, an altered son of Always B Miki and a multiple Open-level winner, is quite the “opening course” himself, and he followed up on his 1:55.3 qualifier of April 29 with a success involving fractions of :28.1, :56.1, and 1:24.4 en route to an 18 length triumph in 1:52.2, also with Napolitano driving.
 
There was good trotting action as well during the qualifying session. The $1.2+M-winning French Wine (in his career a winner in the Pennsylvania and Kentucky programs, second in the Futurity and the Hambletonian Maturity, and 2-3 in the Breeders Crown) rallied in 1:55 in his five-year-old bow, the son of Bar Hopping a half-length ahead of Super Duper Cooper (second to Sir Pinocchio in the NYSS final last year), for Team Orange Crush.
 
Also looking good was the sophomore Gimpanzee filly Voguish, a nose off What A Bid Hanover in the Goldsmith Maid in her previous start, winning in 1:54.3, with Todd McCarthy doing the driving for trainer Andrew Harris and connections.
 
Replays of the Philly qualifiers are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA -- The Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series start their 2025 series of races at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon, as $260,566 will be contested by the sport’s “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing males.
 
In the first of three divisions of the second preliminary of the Sire Stakes (race five), last year’s Dan Patch Award-winning freshman Louprint will be looking for his second straight 2025 victory after the son of Sweet Lou opened his season with a 1:49.3 sloppy track victory in a Sire Stakes contest at The Meadows two weeks ago. Ron Wrenn Jr. will be driving Louprint, a winner of $758,499, from post three for trainer Ron Burke and the ownership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Phil Collura, and Lawrence Karr.
 
The major danger to the defending champion will be starting just inside him: the Bettor’s Wish colt Twisted Destiny, who churned through the off going in 1:49.1 in another Sire Stakes division after returning with a 1:51.2 win at Philly. Dexter Dunn, Dan Patch Driver of the Year in five of the last six seasons, will guide Twisted Destiny, winner of his last six starts over 2024-2025, for trainer Chris Ryder and the partnership of Let It Ride Stables Inc., Alberg Racing LLC, and Enviro Stables LTD.
 
The third Meadows Sire Stakes winner, Go Go Grasshopper (1:50 in his seasonal bow), headlines the race ten division, with trainer Joe Bongiorno set to drive from post two for Let It Ride Stables Inc., Odds On Racing, and JB Racing. The “Grasshopper,” another son of Sweet Lou, is flanked by Pennsylvania All-Stars winners: Lous Starr in post one and Railroad Station (who was second to Twisted Destiny in the first PaSS leg) in post three.
 
The other Sires cut (race eight) has no seasonal Pennsylvania stakes winners, although all six entrants have made the Superfecta in state stakes, and the rail horse, Papi’s Rocket (last year’s Sire Stakes champion) has come back with seconds in both Sire Stakes and All-Stars competition.
 
The second prelim of the Stallion Series competition also should be quite competitive, with the entrants accounting for four first round PaStS sections and the three All-Stars divisions that did not go to Sire Stakes entrants. In this respect, the seventh race may prove the highest-octane, with two Stallion Series winners and an All-Stars winner.
 
The Saturday card also includes a $25,000 pace for the fast-class veterans as part of a great sixteen-race card, which begins at 1 p.m. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA – Miki And Minnie, Dan Patch Award winner for the baby freshman fillies last year, made her 2025 debut Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania in one of four $30,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars divisions, and she couldn’t have been more impressive in a 1:51 victory.
 
Trained by Chris Ryder for owners Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo, and Lawrence Minowitz (the”Min” in Miki And Minnie; sire Always B Miki is of course the “Miki”), the filly had to start on the outside of the eight-horse field, and driver Dexter Dunn made his way gradually frontward, racing behind the cover of Pilar Hanover as that one got to the top at the :27.1 quarter, then moving right along to take over the racetrack and post a half time of :55.3 and a three-quarters of 1:22.4, with uncovered challenger Always Ana Hanover, the second choice behind the 1-20 favorite, tucking in the pocket nearing the far turn.
 
Through the stretch Dunn gave the filly the gentlest of reminders to stay to task, and that was enough to have her pace strongly through the wire 3¼ lengths ahead of Always Ana Hanover. After having finished her freshman campaign with a bang by winning the Breeders Crown and Three Diamonds, Miki And Minnie has now opened her sophomore racing with a win, boosting her lifetime earnings to $849,086.
 
Dexter Dunn won a second All-Stars race, putting a new mark of 1:51.1 on the Sweet Lou filly My Sweet Lily after a nerveless drive. In second-over position after fractions of :26.1 and :55.1, Dunn and My Sweet Lily, the second choice, were double-blindswitched as favored Rodeo Drive Deo came three-wide from third-over down the back, with Gigglingonthebeach on her bumper. But Dunn simply backed out his filly into the outer flow, went wide in the lane, and caught Rodeo Drive Deo by a length as the only non-favorite to take a stake. The New Jersey Classic final winner last year won in her second start of this year for trainer Nancy Takter and owners Marvin and Lynn Katz and Caviart Farms.
 
The fastest All-Stars sector went to the Papi Rob Hanover filly Asphalt, who reduced her mark to 1:50.3. Tim Tetrick sent the filly frontward after a :27.2 quarter, went by the next two poles under control in :55.2 and 1:23.2, then sprinted home in :27 for an easy three length win for trainer Brett Pelling and owner Margaret Dey.
 
Another filly lowering her mark was the Captaintreacherous filly Westwinds, who won in 1:51.2 for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Noel Daley, and owners Milton Leeman, Stambaugh Keith Stable, Joe Sbrocco, and Wingfield Brothers LLC.  Westwinds bided her time third as Karma passed the first two timer stations in :27.1 and :56.2, then moved uncovered to challenge the pacesetter  down the back and past the 1:23.2 three-quarters. There wasn’t much between the pair in the action home, with Westwinds proving herself more photogenic this day by the smallest of margins.
 
Tyler Buter and George Napolitano Jr., 1-2 in the Pocono seasonal standings for sulkysitters, finished 1-2 in the Monday drivers tally: Buter won four races on the day (and has won 21 times in the last six cards at Pocono), and Napolitano reported home first three times. The only ones having a hotter Monday were the supporters of well-regarded horses: ten favorites and four second choices were victorious.
 
The racing week concludes Tuesday with a 1 p.m. first race schedule; the summer schedule being used at Pocono now is Saturday at 1 p.m., Sunday at 6 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday at 1 p.m. Louprint, the champion colt, will be in town on Saturday to help inaugurate the local Pennsylvania Sire Stakes / Stallion Series action for the year; a preview of those races will be forthcoming soon. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Literl Lad Hanover, who literally lost an “a” because of name length rules, certainly brought his A-game to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Sunday night, closing strongly to win the $15,500 featured pace in 1:51.4.
 
The winner of $338,859 (whose biggest check came on May 1 of 2021 when he won a Pennsylvania Sire Stake) followed up second-over behind Better Option as the early part of the race produced fractions of :26.4, :55.4, and 1:23.3. George Napolitano Jr. then swung the altered son of Somebeachsomewhere wide nearing the stretch, and the winner got past his uncovered rival easily for trainer Dean Eckley, co-owner with William Hartt.
 
It cooled a bit during the evening card, but fast times were the rule rather than the exception Sunday, and two overnight winners, both driven by Matt Kakaley, deserve a mention. The seven-year-old Rock N Roll Heaven gelding Rockin Jukebox took a new mark of 1:49.4 in a lower-level conditioned pace for trainer Joe Bongiorno, and owner Robert Weinstein; and a race earlier in a “nw 2 races” trot, the Walner three-year-old colt Jamais Vu was ready in his seasonal debut to win in 1:53.4 for trainer Lucas Wallin and the far-flung ownership of Wallin Racing Stable Inc. (NJ), Harbor Racing Stable LLC (ONT), Karin Walter-Mommert (Germany), and Daniel Plouffe (QUE).
 
Kakaley, the three-time defending champion in driving wins at Pocono, had four wins on the night to lead the colony.


A failure of part of the track lighting system forced the last race to be declared "no contest" by the judges.
 
Dan Patch Award winner Miki And Minnie makes her 2025 debut on Monday in one of four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for sophomore pacing fillies. Miki And Minnie will try to surmount the outside post eight in the twelfth race on the fourteen-race card, which begins at 1 p.m. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Driver Mark Herschberger won both of the feature races on Sunday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, taking totally different routes to the winners circle while working his way into the local sulky Top Ten.
 
In the $13,500 featured pace for up-and-coming pacers, the up-and-coming Herschberger sat last early in a short field with the Captaintreacherous gelding Captain Marvel, then moved three-wide off of a second-over trip. Easy Lou looked like he might have gotten away on the front end after fractions of :26.4, :55.4, and 1:24.1, but Captain Marvel came home with a pair of identical back quarters of :27.3 to be up by a nose in a lifetime best 1:52.1. Michael Posner trains the winner for owner Jeffrey Dauplaise.
 
In the $13,000 pace for the fast-class crew, favored Soaring Now drifted outside midpack early, then rushed up past a :26.4 quarter to take over. Middle fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.1 preceded a :27.2 blitz home that carried the winner home safely in the 1:50.3 mile. Trainer Robert Cleary, on quite a run with his 36% seasonal win average, conditions the victorious son of JK Endofanera, who was coming off a 1:48.3 victory at The Meadowlands, for Kenneth Jacobs and David Reid.
 
Four-time defending Philly driving champion Tim Tetrick was joined by Simon Allard with three visits to victory lane on Sunday. Two of Tetrick’s victories came for trainer Scott Di Domenico, while Allard won the last race for Izzy Estrada – the two conditioners with two winners on the card.
 
Racing will continue at Harrah’s Philadelphia this coming Thursday and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40. The track’s signature “Super Sunday,” containing $100,000 Invitationals for trotters, pacing males, and pacing females, along with Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Stakes for the “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing males, will be held at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday, May 25.
 
Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Jason Bartlett and Ron Burke are the leading driver and trainer, respectively, in North America in terms of both wins and money, and they continued their hot hands during a Saturday afternoon card at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania which featured five $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars contest for the “glamour boys,” the three-year-old pacing males.
 
Burke trained the fastest winner, the Sweet Lou colt Railroad Station, who moved to the lead just past a :27.2 opener, put up midsplits of :55.4 and 1:23.2, then dug down to hold off pocketsitter Odds On No Limit by a neck in a lifetime best 1:50.4. Yannick Gingras drove the chalk winner, second to the streaking Twisted Destiny in a PaSS event at The Meadows in his only other 2025 race, for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Hatfield Stables, and J&T Silva- Purnel and Libby.
 
Bartlett, who led all horsemen on the day with four trips to the winners circle, guided the second-fastest All-Stars winner, Snack Attack, who took a new mark of 1:51.1. The Stay Hungry gelding sat third-in behind splits of :27.1, :55.2, and 1:23.2 set by favored Papi’s Rocket (another Burkite), then got clearance when the pocketsitter moved outside on the far turn and charged up the Pocono Pike to go by the chalk to win by 1¼ lengths (the biggest margin in the quintet of balanced stakes fields), with Delray Beach edged out for the deuce. Trainer Joe Bongiorno, who along with Burke were the only conditioners to send out two winning horses Saturday, handles the winner for the ownership of Philip Steinberg, Joe Sbrocco and JAF Racing LLC.
 
Two other All-Stars splits went in 1:51.2, and both were decided by a head. Sweet Lou earned a second stakes siring credit in one with the colt Lou’s Starr, who parlayed a two-hole journey into a clocking matching his lifetime mark while overhauling pacesetter Waffle Blue Chip, who moved to the lead after a 27.1 opener, put up midrace fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.3, and fought hard but was caught. A winner earlier this year at Rosecroft and Woodstock, Lou’s Starr was driven by Matt Kakaley for trainer Scott Warnick and owner David Chansky.
 
The other photogenic 1:51.2 winner was the Papi Rob Hanover colt Beach Club Monty, who overcame a first-over trip behind :26.3, :54.4, and 1:23 fractions to edge the potential pocket rocket Shipmaster. Beach Club Monty, who was favored after his only other seasonal start was a 1:50.3 Meadowlands win, succeeded for driver Scott Zeron, trainer Brett Pelling, and South Merrick Stables and Andrew Berg.
 
Papi Rob Hanover picked up another siring credit with the 20-1 Makes Sense, who won two qualifiers and then proved the punters wrong while sitting well off fractions of :28, :55.1, and 1:23.2, closing from fifth at the stretch call to win by a length over Bulldozer, who in turn photoed out favored leader Dreamboat Hanover. Andrew McCarthy was in the sulky for the white-hot trainer Bob Cleary, who is also co-owner with Let It Ride Stables LLC and Carl Howard.
 
Fastest winner of the day was Primary Colors, a son of JK Endofanera who has now taken three of his last four after stalking fractions of :26.4, :54.3, and 1:22.1, then pouncing to win in 1:49.1 in the $16,500 fast-class pacing feature. Another of Bartlett’s four-of-a-kind, the career winner of $359,820 is trained by Per Engblom for the partnership of Jeff Fought Racing and Brian Carsey.
 
Pocono will be back racing Sunday at 6 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday at 1 p.m.; the Monday card will feature the 2025 debut of freshman pacing filly champion Miki And Minnie in an All-Stars race. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – A pair of $12,000 contests, one on each gait, for horses looking to climb the classification ladder were featured at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon, over a surface that was rated “sloppy” most of the afternoon.
 
The pacing feature was for distaffs, and it was won in frontstepping fashion by the Huntsville sophomore filly Shes A Streaker, who equaled the 1:52 mark she set winning a Home Grown event at The Meadowlands last fall. Verity Blue Chip reluctantly accepted the pocket nearing the quarter and stayed second the rest of the way, finishing 2¾ lengths behind the winner.  Ron Burke trains the victorious miss for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Knox Services Inc., Frank Baldachino, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and David Miller drove her.
 
In the trot, the Bold Eagle gelding Modigliani S, who has had a win, a third, and a fourth so far this year despite an early break in each of the first and last races, had perfect manners today, and came uncovered from midstretch to win and reduce his mark to 1:55.4 for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Nifty Norman, and owner Lella Montgomery. Favored Bay Breeze Hanover, who tucked early then moved in the wake of the flow of the winner, was second, a length behind Modigliani S and a neck ahead of pacesetting Santa Cristina.
 
Meet leader George Napolitano Jr. added to his cushion at the top by bringing home three winners, most of all the drivers on the card.
 
The two top paces on Philly’s Sunday at 12:40 card are a $13,500 contest for horses on the rise, and a $13,000 event for the fast-class set. “Super Sunday,” with three $100,000 Invitationals and Pennsylvania-sired action for the three-year-old pacing males, is set for two weeks from this Sunday, May 26. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Miki And Minnie, voted the Dan Patch Award for two-year-old pacing fillies last season, will make her 2025 purse debut on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, starting in one of four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for her age, sex, and gait.
 
A daughter of Always B Miki trained by Chris Ryder for owners Craig Henderson, Robert Mondillo, and Lawrence Minowitz (he is the “Min” in “Minnie,” and her sire is the “Miki”), Miki And Minnie posted 11-6-4-1 finish statistics and earned $834,086 in her championship season. Among her triumphs were a division of the Bluegrass, the finale in the top level of the Kentucky state program, the Breeders Crown, and the Three Diamonds.
 
This year trainer Ryder has given her three preparatory qualifiers: a season-opening second in which she closed in :26, and then victories in 1:52.1-:55.2-:27.1 and 1:52.4-:54-:25.3. Dexter Dunn will be in his usual perch behind Miki And Minnie, who has no easy task from the outside post eight, against two foes who already have 2025 wins and two others who show 2024 stakes triumphs. Despite these factors, Miki And Minnie has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite in race twelve.
 
The early favorites in their respective divisions included two daughters of Captaintreacherous: Rodeo Drive Deo, a 1:51.2 winner in her seasonal bow (race ten, post seven, driver David Miller, trainer Ron Burke), and Westwinds, whose second start of 2025 resulted in a 1:51.4 victory (race eight, post four, driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Noel Daley). Tetrick is also listed on the other All-Stars favorite, Asphalt (race six, post one, trainer Brett Pelling), who won her first race of 2025 in 1:51.1.
 
First post at Pocono on Monday is at 1 p.m.; free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.