By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Sportswriter pacer Rhett Seelster and the Explosive Matter trotting mare Perth Angel De Vie both came from out of the pocket to win their gait’s respective $17,000 features on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
Rhett Seelster had an unusual journey – bothered by a roughgaited horse enough to get an “i” before the quarter, then out first-over at the half -- but he was able to get into the two-hole behind Red Power on the far turn when the previous pocket horse backed up. Anthony Napolitano and his horse got a small breather, then came out again and caught Red Power (driven by Anthony’s brother George, who won four races on the day) by a nose while reducing the pacer’s record to 1:50.4. Antonia Storer handles the training of the winner for owner Daniel Maier.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
GRATZ PA – 2021 season’s records were recorded in six of the eight categories (including all two-year-old divisions) in the Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes during a Sunday-Monday meet at the Gratz Fairgrounds, with the three-year-old trotting filly Cheesy Hanover also rewriting the local standard for her age, sex, and gait on Monday by winning in 1:59.4, beating by a tick the previous record shared by Heirodynamic (2007) and Petiti (2008).
 
The Cantab Hall filly Cheesy Hanover won her ninth straight race on the fair circuit, which also ties her for most PA fair wins this year (no horse has achieved ten; her Todd Schadel colt counterpart Top Me Off also has nine, as does a horse we’ll write about two paragraphs below). Trainer Schadel, who co-owns the filly with wife Christine, has given the filly to his 19-year-old son Cody to drive in most of her starts, and the results speak for themselves.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Conway Hall gelding Classic Venture paid $78.20 to win in taking the $11,000 featured trot at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Monday afternoon, and he did it in a way that runs counter to the way most longshots win – he went to the front and fought off waves of challengers in the 1:56 mile. 
 
Gerard was the first horse to go the command; Classic Venture, looped out of the gate from post three for driver Jim Pantaleano, went on to take over command just after a fast first quarter of :27.3. The pacesetter got a bit of a breather with a :56.4, though that was against the wind. Gerard popped out of the pocket midbackstretch in front of a progressing Hashtagmadeyalook, who in turn was followed by the favored Smalltownthrowdown towards the 1:25.3 three-quarters.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – In a very competitive $24,000 featured pace for mares Sunday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono – so competitive that in a five-horse field nobody finished worse than a dead-heat for fourth – the Art Major mare Crazy Cute won for the second time in three starts in this company, here pacing her mile in 1:52.
 
Crazy Cute may have won the race when she made favorite April Ava, the winner in this company last week, work very hard to go past her early and get the lead before the :27 quarter. April Ava set midfractions of :56 and 1:24.3, with Bye Bye Felicia a hounding first-over presence, and in the stretch the track’s leading driver George Napolitano Jr. was able to direct Crazy Cute to the Pocono Pike and go on to a head victory over a game Bye Bye Felicia, with April Ava only a neck away from repeating. American Delight N, from second-over, and Pansy’s Image, who sat in and had no clearance in the lane, were another 1 1/2 lengths back tied for fourth.
 
The leading trainer at Pocono, Gilbert Garcia-Herrera, conditions the winner of $251,915 for himself and Barbara Arnstine. Garcia-Herrera would go on to sweep the Late Double by winning with Keystone Steam, driven by Jim Marohn Jr.; in an interesting parallel, “George Nap” and Garcia-Hererra’s trainer son Gilbert Garcia-Owen swept the Early Double during the afternoon at Philly.
 
Matt Kakaley, who seems like he’s been around forever yet still is only 33, had four wins on the card; 21-year-old Braxten Boyd, impressing more and more each day, brought three horses home first.
 
Younger horses will be featured in a trio of $13,000 contests on Pocono’s Monday card; program pages for the 12:30 card are available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Candyman Can and Curious Cortez both continued their strong winning form as they captured the two $16,500 divisions of the top claiming handicap pace on Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
The Rockin Image gelding The Candyman Can was fourth last week at the highest conditioned level against bearcats such as Jug winner Southwind Ozzi and Breeders Crown winner Sandbetweenmytoes, but he’s won his other four starts since being haltered for $37,500 by owner Eric Prevost and Darren Taneyhill on August 14. In this event, driver Braxten Boyd, making a favorable impression here as he has in his many other stops this summer, got The Candyman Can around Somebeach Baron, a winner at this level last week, just past the :26.4 quarter, and the sharp pacer tripped the rest of the timers in :54.4, 1:22.3, and 1:50.1, winning under a hold by three lengths over Somebeach Baron to have earned back $33,810 of his pricetag in only five outings.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
MEADVILLE PA – The two female winners of their 2020 freshman Fair Championships both got home first during the 2-day Sire Stakes event held at the Crawford County Fairgrounds in this northwestern Pennsylvania town, with sophomores finishing the meet Friday after the freshmen had opened it the previous day, and both Championship misses flirted with the Meadville record book in winning.
 
Perhaps the slightly-more-unexpected victory was the 2:03 mile turned in by the Explosive Matter trotting filly Explosive Flower, just 2/5 behind the local divisional standard of Monroe County in 2013. Explosive Flower has had 11 in-the-money finishes in 17 starts this year for trainer Rick Beinhauer, co-owner with Regina Beinhauer, but this race was the first time she had broken into the victory column this season, winning by two lengths over Frankkiss, the division’s top pointwinner.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER – On a Friday afternoon  where nine of the twelve horses who led at the half went on to victory (including the last six), feature race winners Keepthetab Hanover and Sombodyitreasure used the front end as a springboard to victory at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
 
In the $12,600 top trot, the Bar Hopping gelding Keepthetab Hanover was moving inside from post seven to post two after a frontend attempt in his last race got him second, and driver Tim Lancaster again got him to the top. The pair reached the half in a leisurely 1:00.3 then sprinted home in :57.2, and needed every ounce of that speed to hold off the charging Creative Venture by a nose. Trainer Kelly Hastings owns the victorious three-year-old with Ryan Dailey.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – A longshot, AP Hall of Trix ($121.00), and a favorite, Steel ($3.00), emerged as the winners of the $14,400 co-featured “n/w 5 races” trots on Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
 
The $470,000 yearling Glacier Hanover acted as if he were trying to earn that price back all at once, sailing out to the lead in :26.4, then rebuffing an attempt to control the pace by 1-9 favorite Pivotal to a :55 half. The outside challenger backed off midbackstretch, and the pacesetter hit the three-quarters in 1:25, but he could not survive those fractions. Meanwhile, Pat Berry had gotten the Trixton gelding AP Hall Of Trix into the outside flow, went up behind it as led by a rejuvenated Pivotal, then went wide to the lead and held off Big Sky Ex by half-length in 1:56.1 for owner/trainer David Hoover.
 
Steel, a 1-2 favorite, went out to the lead for driver Tyler Miller just before a :28 quarter, and then he too had to dealing with an early brusher in SJ’s Lady Lou, with the two hitting the half in :56.2. That pace proved too much for pocketsitting Pilot Hanover, who broke at that point, with SJ’s Lady Lou going into the two-hole before eventually fading. The Chapter Seven sophomore gelding Steel, meanwhile, went to the three-quarters in 1:25.4, then had enough to deal with the late kick of Boom Boom Bay by 2¾ lengths while reducing his record to 1:54.3. Julie Miller conditions the winner of $207,611 for the ownership of Pinske Stables and Crawford Farm Racing
 
For much of the $13,000 fast-class trot, Bluffiner looked like he would be tough to overhaul, carrying an open-length lead from before the half to the far turn, but then a 20-day layoff caught up with him, and the pocketsitting Swan In Motion picked up the pace and went by easily in 1:54.1, 3¾ lengths ahead of the pacesetter. The Indiana star, a son of Swan For All trained by Dylan Davis, has now earned $478,735, $81.890 of that total for owner Howard Taylor since he was purchased after his 2020 Breeders Crown elimination.
 
Trotters again take center stage at Philly on Friday, with the popular “nw 3 races” class hosting one $12,600 event; this race will be supplemented by an $11,200 event for fast-class pacers. Harrah’s Philadelphia programs are available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Three divisions of the $12,600 featured conditioned event at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon went to male pacer Uncontrollable, trotter Year Of The Bride, and female pacer Three Way Split in that order during the progression of the card.
 
Uncontrollable lived up less to his name and more to his sire’s name Control The Moment, moving at the quarter to control the pace and proceeding onward to a 2½ length victory in a new mark of 1:52. Tim Tetrick, the meet’s leading driver who topped the colony with three wins on the Wednesday card, handled the sulky assignment behind the three-year-old gelding for trainer Paul Stafford and owner Thomas Ceraso Jr.
 
George Napolitano Jr., fresh off a milestone day when he recorded his 11,000th victory at Pocono, started on the road to 12,000 by overcoming the outside post with the Donato Hanover sophomore filly Year Of The Bride, taking a race mark of 1:57.2. Year Of The Bride was parked a long way until reaching the lead, but then she resisted giving up command, holding off the late surge of Gingertree Stakias by a head for trainer Trish Adams and owner Joseph Riad.
 
The Somebeachsomewhere three-year-old Three Way Split toyed with her opposition by 5½ lengths as she reduced her lifetime tab to 1:52.4. Andrew McCarthy drove the winner for trainer Tony Alagna and the ownership of Bottom Line Racing LLC, Brad Grant, and Marvin & Lynn Katz.
 
This will be the last live Wednesday card at Harrah’s Philadelphia until October 27, as the basic schedule in early fall will be Thursday and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40. The “Trottin’ Thursday” headliners at Philly will be a pair of $14,400 races for developing members of that gait; Harrah’s Philadelphia  programs are available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Perhaps it was appropriate that it came in the eleventh race on an eleven-race card on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but when George Napolitano Jr., Pocono’s all-time leading driver, won the contest with Captain Romance in 1:51, it was the 11,000th victory of his career – a plateau reached previously by only eleven other North American drivers.
 
“George Nap” made two early moves with the Captaintreacherous sophomore gelding, then yielded the lead to Stellar Yankee. But the aggressive Napolitano tipped his favored pacer outside on the far turn, and inch by inch the pair got by Stellar Yankee to win by a half-length and set a new mark in the milestone victory. Robert Baggitt Jr. trains the winner for J L Sadowsky LLC.