By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Game Of Claims Pacing Series, which will offer rich paydays to those who can claim the throne as best in the respective price divisions, continued on Sunday evening at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with two sections each of first round preliminaries, offering $7500 for $7500 claimers and $10,000 for $10,000-tagged horses.
 
Remarkably, six of the eleven horses in the $10,000 action will be racing for new barns next week after being claimed, including divisional winner Charger Blue Chip, who won his debut as a 10-year-old in 1:58 over a tiring track rated “good.” The Rocknroll Hanover gelding rallied from the pocket to overhaul pacesetting favorite Midnight Dylan N for driver Tom Jackson and owner/trainer Emily Bost.
 
No claim was entered on the Mach Three gelding Mr Carrotts despite his being the second choice, and trainer Dan Morrissey and owner Leona Morrissey got to “walk him home” after he one-geared up raw and held off Master The View in 1:57.4.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA -- The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono opened on Saturday night, the earliest seasonal start in the 55 years of racing at the track, but while the temperature hung around the freezing mark, the competition on the oval was hot, mainly in the first preliminary leg of two sections of the track’s Game Of Claims Pacing Series.
 
Action for horses entered at various claiming prices, with three preliminaries determining those who will race for the throne as their Game Of Claims divisional champion, provided two divisions of $25,000 base-price horses going for $25,000 each and three cuts of $15,000 base-price horses going for $15,000 (the base price in each grouping goes up slightly with each preliminary) opening night. With $50,000 and $30,000 Championship purses respectively, it’s no surprise that a total of eighteen horses were claimed in Saturday’s first round action, including four of the five divisional winners, for a total of $350,000.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The trotters and pacers take to the track at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Saturday for the earliest seasonal opening in 55 years of the harness sport in northeast Pennsylvania, with the first of thirteen races scheduled for 5 p.m.
 
The opening set of features during February’s racing at The Downs will be part of the new Game of Claims Series, grouping horses of varying values. It’s appropriate that the claiming horses will provide the early season highlights at a track where 483 claims resulted in $9,465,025 turnover during 2019.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The 2020 racing season got off to a quick start at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Monday morning, as the Big Jim pacing mare Jossie James A won the first qualifier of the season in 1:54 while making her U.S. debut.
 
Yonkers driving leader Jason Bartlett sent the oft-winning mare away quickly from post seven and tucked third. They sat in that position as Lyons River Pride, first or second in his last four starts against good foes at Yonkers, set fractions of :27.3, :56.4, and 1:25.1, then moved out on the turn and overhauled the leader by a half-length for trainer Richard Banca and owner Barbara Boese.

​WILKES-BARRE PA – The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono is preparing for the earliest-ever opening in its 55th season, with qualifying races scheduled for Monday and Tuesday ahead of the first card of this year taking place this coming Saturday, February 8.
 
Trainer/driver Ray Schnittker has several interesting prospects in the Monday qualifiers, which start at 10 a.m., including Wild Bill, a full brother to Huntsville who has shown periodic flashes of his brother’s ability; the trotter Alternative Fact, a 1:53.3 winner as a sophomore in a Simpson Stake division at Harrah’s Philly; and the well-pedigreed Nightcap, a $125,000 yearling who makes her career debut at three.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​CHESTER PA – The Yankee Glide gelding Max was very strong on the front end in winning the $18,000 featured trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia Thursday, completing a 1:54 victory by coming home in :27.4 in 38-degree temperatures.
 
Max headed right to the lead in front of Infiniti As under the command of Yannick Gingras, but it looked as if he might have to surrender the lead after the :27.4 quarter to the brushing Rubber Duck, the classy veteran who was seeking his fourth straight triumph. However, Infiniti As made a break before the finish line the first time, allowing Rubber Duck to take the pocket behind Max as he went on to splits of :57.1 and 1:26.1, towards the latter call coming under pressure from the mare Kenziesky Hanover.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Muscle Hill sophomore gelding Muscle Star was able to outmuscle favored pacesetter Choco Charlie late to take a 1:56.2 victory in the $16,000 featured trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia as the southeast Pennsylvania track starts the final week of its 2019 campaign.
 
Innisfallen and The Rave had grabbed the 1-2 spots, respectively, before the :28 quarter, with Choco Charlie moving in front of the stands to assume the lead before the :57.3 half. Coming off the second turn pocket sitting Innisfallen made a break, letting first-over Muscle Star get into the two-hole, but the winner then pulled outside approaching the 1:26.1 three-quarters, challenged the leader, then beat him to the wire by 1¼ lengths.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​CHESTER PA – The Sir Lincoln mare Lincoln’s Girl N came uncovered into a :55 last half and still was able to draw away from favored Glorious Nite to win the $17,000 pacing distaff feature at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon in a career best 1:52.4.
 
Jive Dancing A shot away from the gate to the lead, with Glorious Nite making a move at the :28.1 quarter to get the lead, and she got a breather to a :57.4 half. Dexter Dunn sent his “countrymate” first-over from third entering the backstretch, and the big battle was on with Glorious Nite retaining command through the 1:25.2 three-quarters, Lincoln’s Girl N still coming up to her, and Jive Dancing A starting to get a bit loose in the pocket.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
​CHESTER PA – The crowd settled on the right favorite in a well-matched, hard-to-handicap $18,000 featured trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, as the Yankee Glide gelding Max held off a late charge by the mare Kenziesky Hanover by ¾ of a length in 1:54.3.
 
Yannick Gingras hustled the winner away quickly and forced Kenziesky Hanover to tuck behind him, then yielded to the $900,000 winner Top Flight Angel past a :27.3 quarter. Top Flight Angel guided the field to the half in :57, then increased the tempo to 1:25.2 at the three-quarters, with Cruising In Style coming first-over and Kenziesky Hanover slipping out behind that one’s cover.