By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The temperature rose to the mid-50s on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania after hovering near freezing during the first three days of the meet, with the fastest trot and pace of the year registered, and both outside of the featured events. Simon Allard won both of those $15,000 contests, one for each gait.
 
The trotting headliner saw the Walner gelding Chef Rocco win in his second start for owner/trainer Mark Akins and driver Allard. Chef Rocco was put on the lead and was unchallenged late in a 1:56.1 victory.
 
In the companion feature for pacers, Mikiteen raced in the pocket for Allard behind leader Dark As Night, then caught the frontstepper by the slimmest of margins in 1:54.4. Trainer Cote Keim shares ownership in the Always B Miki gelding along with Gold Pony Racing LLC.
 
 Trainer Nicholas Devita looks like he has a very chancy prospect in the four-year-old Huntsville gelding Forward Look, who did not race at two or three but who already has two wins in 2024, including a shocking 1:51.2 triumph in a $14,000 pace Monday. Braxten Boyd, a four-time winner on the day, lowered the mark of Forward Look by almost five seconds, getting him to go around early leader Skifromthetop IR in the second panel and then withstanding that rival by a length for David Hamm, Christopher Giaccio, Glenn Phillips, and Devita Racing Stable Inc.
 
A much more likely wearer of the banner saying ”fastest of his gait this season at Pocono” was the Explosive Matter gelding Chiplosive, with the career earner of $363,762 earning that status in 1:54.2, again for Boyd. Maria Alvarez conditions the pacesetting winner for owner Terrence Smith.
 
Racing resumes on Saturday afternoon at Pocono, and so do the various Game Of Claims Series for horses eligible to be taken for a certain base-price, which increases after the second and then the third preliminaries. There are six $17,500 divisions of the Game Of Claims event for $25,000 base-tag horses featured on Saturday, and with competitive fields, a rich final, and a new rule saying that a horse must start in all three prelims to get into the final, the action will certainly be hot on the racetrack and at the claiming box. Free programs for Saturday’s 1 p.m. Pocono card are available at www.phha.org.

WILKES-BARRE PA -- Driver Tyler Buter held the hot driving hands during another frosty card at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, with $59.20 bomber Smooth Landing taking the $17,000 featured trot as one of six winners on the Saturday afternoon program for the 38-year-old who is fast approaching 4500 career wins.
 
Buter had the victorious Tactical Landing gelding out behind grinding heavy favorite Buddy Earl, then moved on to challenge raw after that one got by at the three-quarter pole under some urging. Through the stretch it was no contest as Smooth Landing went on to a 1:58 final time for trainer Jennifer Bongiorno and owners Glenn Goller and Stephen Demeter. Enola closed steadily to take second ahead of Buddy Earl.
 
Co-featured were a trio of $16,500 contests, with the fast-class trot also going to Buter and the 51-time career winner Rich And Miserable in 1:55. The Todd Buter-trained altered son of Explosive Matter was the easiest of winners while taking his career bankroll to $824,444 for Buter Farm Inc. and Lynette Buter.
 
Tyler pulled another upset with 12-1 choice Panettone Hanover in the  top-level starter allowance pace, tipping wide off the cover of Francis Underwood and prevailing in 1:53.2. The Captaintreacherous gelding is co-owned by trainer Cote Keim in partnership with El Dorado Stables and Buzzy Sholty.
 
The fast-class pace saw the Always B Miki gelding Maximus Miki win his second straight race at Pocono via a pocket journey, launching up the inside to gain into a :55.4 back half and win in 1:53.3. George Napolitano Jr. again guided the pacer to success for Team Cancelliere, trainer Tom and owner John.
 
Racing returns to Pocono Monday for a 14-race card beginning at 1 p.m., with a $15,000 pair of showcase events for developing horses at each gait. Pocono programs are available free of charge at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania featured a trio of $15,000 events for developing horses on its Monday card, the second of the year at the mountain oval.
 
The faster winner in the two pacing heats was Train Station, a son of Roll With Joe who was victorious in his second straight start, here in 1:54.2 despite cold and windy conditions. Jason Bartlett got the Per Engblom trainee to the top in front of the stands and rated the pace, then stepped him home in :27.3 to hold a 1¼ length lead at the finish over Dark As Night, who necked El Yerno for second. Morrison Racing Stable shares ownership in the visitor to Victory Lane with Brian Gordon.
 
In the other pacing headliner, Fade To Light utilized the Pocono Pike to chase down a hard-used Rusty Beach by a neck in 1:54.4. Anthony Napolitano, posting his second driving triple in as many 2024 cards at Pocono to take the early meet lead, sulkysat behind the Bettor’s Delight gelding for trainer Jose Godinez and the dual ownership of Godinez Racing Stable LLC and Jhonatan Garcia Guia.
 
On the trotting side, Gatsby sat a nice two-hole journey, then rallied up the inside to catch pacesetting chalk Chef Rocco by three-quarters of a length in 1:57.4. Braxten Boyd, who joined “ANap” and Ridge Warren with three victories each, drove the Cantab Hall gelding to the win for trainer Joe Karrat and owner Christopher Zollo.
 
On the training side, 29-year-old Lesley McDaniel, who came to Pocono from Hawkinsville GA via Maine, recorded the first victory in his young career when he had the veteran Mister Big gelding My Mind Is Madeup ready after 72 days away, winning a 1:55.1 contest for driver Simon Allard and owner Jose Cervantes.
 
Pocono will again race on Saturday and Monday this coming week, both cards beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday’s feature, slotted as the fifth of fourteen races, is a $17,000 trot for horses looking to soon earn their way into the uppermost ranks. The likely favorite is this race, Buddy Earl (post six, Matt Kakaley scheduled to drive), has been following just that pattern – after two strong victories in early February at The Meadowlands, the latter in 1:53.2, he stepped up to the Open ranks last time and was a very creditable third after a first-over journey.
 
Pocono programs will be or are available for free at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Blustery winds, cold, and intermittent blowing snow greeted the trotters and pacers as they returned to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania for Saturday’s 2024 opening card. The conditions did not lend themselves to fast times, but competitiveness over an off track was the name of the game in the races, which were headed by two $16,500 events.
 
In the featured pace for top conditioned horses, the Always B Miki gelding Maximus Miki, a $200,000 yearling, showed himself ready to go after eight months away for trainer Tom Cancelliere and owner/brother John, coming up the inside from the pocket (after hard early usage) to win in 1:53.3 under the guidance of George Napolitano Jr. This was only the five-year-old’s 25th career start, but he’s won twelve of them and has shown lots of desire, winning by 1½ lengths in a race where that same margin covered the tightly-packed septet who trailed him home.
 
The other $16,500 event was a starter allowance for high-priced claiming pacers, some preparing for the upcoming lucrative Game Of Claims Series. In a scratch-plagued field of four, Matt Kakaley, two-time defending local driving champion who tied with Anthony Napolitano with three successes during the curtainraiser, was able to keep the Roll With Joe gelding Loorrim Lake A in the three-hole until the three-quarters, then moved the winner of $271,720 to the outside. The pair then worked their way past pacesetting Tam Major A to earn the decision in 1:54 for trainer Paul Blumenfeld and for Jersey Shore Stables LLC.
 
The Pocono schedule for February is a Saturday-Monday two-day week, and the horses will be taking to the track for a 14-race card at 1 p.m. on Monday. There are a trio of $15,000 contests for developing younger stock, two on the pace and one on the trot. Pocono programs can be obtained without charge by going to www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – This Saturday’s opening card of the 2024 harness racing season at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania was drawn on Monday. There will be twelve races for the trotters and pacers in the curtainraiser, with the first set to go at 1 p.m.
 
The top purse of the day, $16,500, is offered twice, in races three and ten. The first feature will be a starter allowance for claiming pacers, with some eyeing upcoming competition in the Game Of Claims Series, which begins on Saturday, March 2. (The Game Of Claims is the reason Pocono offers starter allowances the first two weeks, so that owners who bore the expense of laying off a horse during the winter do not lose their “fresh” horse right away after their "vacation" investment.)
 
The tenth race is a high-level conditioned pace for a field of eight, with the inside five invading from Yonkers. Billy Clyde, who won in 1:48 last year at The Meadowlands and who took his mark of 1:47.3 at that Jersey oval, faces a bit easier competition than he did in Gotham and should be very competitive for trainer Ray Schnittker and driver Mark MacDonald from post two.
 
Monday also marked the first qualifying session of the year at Pocono, with Mach Doro A, who was entered right back in for the Saturday opening card, showing his current sharpness by winning in 1:54, fastest time of the day, for driver Jim Pantaleano and trainer Darren Taneyhill. Ridge Warren guided home three winners during the a.m. session, including two for trainer Gilbert Garcia-Herrera, who was the only conditioner to see two charges report home first.
 
On Tuesday, the second card of the year, to be raced Monday, February 19 at 1 p.m., will be drawn. The Saturday-Monday opening schedule will be joined by racing on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in March, with Sunday evening racing at 6 p.m. starting in May and bringing Pocono to its basic four-cards-a-week schedule