By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The chestnut Love You sophomore gelding Beaujolais Breeze made a striking pari-mutuel debut on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, as the Love You gelding came up on the grind while going his back half in :56.3 to win his $20,000 division of the Bobby Weiss Series’s first preliminary for three-year-old trotting males in 1:55.2.
 
Favored Te Quiero Lindy had made the lead by the :28.3 quarter, moderated the half to :58, then went on with the wind to reach the three-quarters in 1:26.3. Tyler Buter had initially stayed in with Beaujolais Breeze, but when the two-wide tier made little headway he sent his charge out to the uncovered position later on the backstretch and gained steadily, finally edging out the favorite by a half-length for trainer Nifty Norman and the partnership of Tom Vassiliou, Deo Volente Farms LLC, Thomas Pontone, and Enzed Racing Stable Inc.
 
The other two Weiss divisions were won by George Napolitano Jr.-driven geldings, neither the betting favorite, but both nonetheless taking a new mark of 1:57.1; one shares the trainer of Beaujolais Breeze, and the other shares his sire.
 
The second winning Weiss pupil of Nifty Norman was Pantofolaio (Italian for “couch potato”), a  Bar Hopping gelding who was nothing like his name in grinding to the lead late on the far turn and then resisting Blue Patrol by a neck for Dean Lockhart, Wayne Carleton, and Jeffery Runk. The second son of Love You to visit Pocono’s Victory Lane was Luvutothemoonanbak, who persevered gamely on the lead to defeat Big Shot by the slightest of margins for trainer Blake MacIntosh and Clancy Farms.
 
The Sweet Lou mare Louisville GB continued her winning form in a $17,000 distaff pace, blitzing home after a good cover trip for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Robert Cleary, and owner Kenneth Jacobs in 1:51.3, just a tick off her mark taken at The Meadowlands. The ultra-sharp mare has won four straight, five of six in 2025, seven of eight Stateside, and ten of her last thirteen starts including her farewell races on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
 
Chapolier has started off the Pocono meet with six straight victories, but Tuesday’s was his closest contest yet, with the Chapter Seven gelding warding off the closing Wallet by a neck in 1:55.2 in a $16,000 trot contest. Chapolier has been racing on or near the lead, but when George Napolitano Jr. looked over early and saw many opponents looking for a similar journey, he backed his horse off, and the winner of $312,074 came uncovered from seventh in notching the win. Trainer Dean Eckley, also co-owner with William Hartt, retained Chapolier for another start after the horse had been claimed four straight times.
 
Napolitano had five driving wins on the card, Buter two, which leaves them at a deadlock at 44 victories at the top of the drivers charts.
 
Pocono closes its racing week Tuesday with a 1 p.m. card. It will feature a $17,500 Championship in the Game Of Claims Pacing Series; bettors may well be attracted to a $5367.21 double carryover addition to the fifth race Pick 5 pool. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Trainer/fathers and driver/sons combined to win half the six $20,000 divisions of the first preliminary of the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old pacing males Saturday afternoon at a warm Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
The fastest mile was turned in by Team Ryder, trainer Chris and driver Patrick, as the Bettor’s Wish gelding World Of Wishes turned in as tough a maiden-breaking win in his second lifetime second start as you are likely to see, stopping the clock in 1:51. World Of Wishes, owned by Philip Steinberg, pushed the two favorites well past a :26.4 opener before allowing both to get by, then was right back uncovered nearing the :55.1 half. On a day where the wind gave horses a push down the backstretch, World Of Wishes reclaimed command with a :26.4 brush, passing by a 1:22.2 three-quarters, and drawing off late to win by three lengths at 10-1.
 
Even though he had the fastest mark in the field (1:53.2), another altered son of Bettor’s Wish, Cover The Spread, was allowed to go off at 40-1 in his seasonal bow. The pacer rallied from the two-hole to catch 12-1 Atta Boy Abe, at 12-1 the second-longest-priced horse in the field, to win in 1:54.3 by a neck for driver Tyler Buter, trainer/father Todd, and Oldfield Racing LLC.
 
Tyler went on to win two other Weiss divisions, one of them at 14-1 with the Betting Line gelding Flight In Motion, who overcame a first-over trip to lower his mark to 1:52, decisioning Federer by a half-length for trainer Eddie Dennis and the partnership of Mulligan Stables and Jason Johnson Inc. His other sulky success was with one of the three Weiss favorites who won, the Captain Crunch gelding Captain Conan, who led at every call while breaking his maiden in 1:52.4 - :55.3 for trainer Robert Cleary and owner Robert Corrigan.
 
Team Pelling – trainer Brett and driver Jack – were the third father/son pairing to visit Victory Lane, as the Papi Rob Hanover gelding Gold Glove Hanover wheeled right back in after racing on Tuesday and promptly reduced his mark in 1:52.1. He punched back tenaciously after being passed by brusher Jackson Cooper and achieving a head margin for Pelling Racing LLC while going his own back half in :54.4.
 
Also a Weiss winner was the only winning colt, Ooglesville, a son of Huntsville and a consistent horse in the NYSS at two, making every pole a winning one in his return while recording his first race win in 1:53 - :55.2. Zip Time was a half-length in back of the winner, who was driven by Jason Bartlett for trainer Per Engblom and Morrison Racing Stables.
 
1:50 winners on the card were Virgo, the fastest at 1:49.2 for driver Simon Allard, and a pair who took lifetime marks for driver Anthony Napolitano: Southwind Celsius (1:50) and Rose Run Zeke (1:49.3). “ANap” had five successes overall on the card, while Tyler Buter’s triple moved him to the top in the local seasonal standings.
 
Racing will continue at the Downs on Monday and Tuesday at 1 p.m.; Monday’s card will contain the first prelim of the Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting males, along with a carryover into the fifth race Pick 5 wager, while on Tuesday the $17,500 Championship of a Game Of Claims Pacing Series will go postward. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – On Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, there were ten $9000 divisions of the third and final preliminary leg of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses base-tagged this week at $15,000. And of these ten winners, only one of them, Chiefs Beach, has a chance of making the $17,500 series Championship seven days hence – the other nine are ineligible.
 
Some local rules are needed: A horse must start in all three preliminaries of a given Game Of Claims Series to qualify for the final; the base claiming price in all GOC pacing series is upped $2500 per week; and the series for those horses who had started out for a base tag of $15,000 had its Championship the day before. Many horsemen, finding their charges overmatched at the higher level, chose to drop their horses to the lower rung to earn money, and in this final prelim as noted the base price was not different from what they initially had entered for in the higher grouping. This helps to explain why nine of Tuesday’s ten GOC winners had not raced in the lower series’ first leg.
 
The only winner starting in all of this level’s prelims was Chiefs Beach, who had a fifth and a sixth in his last two outings vs. this kind, but Tuesday utilized a 26.3 backstretch brush to command and won for driver Simon Allard in 1:54.
 
Allard had three series winners, as did Tyler Buter (who had four successes in all to tie George Napolitano Jr. at 39 at the top of the Pocono seasonal standings). Among Buter’s trio were Snap Test (1:54.1) and Colonel Bayama (1:54), two horses who won each of the two series starts they made; Colonel Bayama also defeated second-place Stick With Cramer, one of two horses victorious in the first two prelims. Buter’s fastest GOC winner was Team Mac in 1:53.3.
 
Allard’s other two winners included Angelo in 1:54.3 (in that race Captain Terminator, the other winner in the first two prelims and the only horse claimed in all three legs, was third) and Tin Roof Raider A, who opened the card with a 1:54.1 win.
 
Braxten Boyd guided five horses home first during the card for day’s honors, including Master Miki (1:55.4) and the fastest GOC winner, Whitecookie (1:53.2). Whitecookie was joined as the only Tuesday winners in their sole series start by Hello Gorgeous (1:55.2, Matt Kakaley); Master Miki paired with Fredneck (1:54, George Napolitano Jr.) to give trainer Geovany Hernandez the only series double in the program’s grouping, and contributed to him being tops for the day with three winners harnessed.
 
This group has its Championship next Tuesday, and there is a Game Of Claims Series trot in April, but starting with Saturday’s 1 p.m. card, the next at Pocono, the spotlight in series action shifts to sophomores of both gaits and sexes in the Bobby Weiss Series for developing three-year-olds. On Saturday, there will be six $20,000 first prelims for the pacing males, and joining them in the attraction spotlight will be a carryover into the last race High 5 wager. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Captaintreacherous gelding Shipshape, taken at The Meadows for $6000 by Team Pirillo – trainer Justin and owner Gianna – on February 5, now has earned $26,710 for his new connections after triumphing in the $20,000 Championship of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for $15,000 base-tagged horses in 1:52.4 Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
Shipshape, who had sandwiched a fourth between victories in the preliminaries, forced favored Tellitsabb to go :26.1 to grab the early lead, then sat in the golden chair during midfractions of :55.3 and 1:23.2. Driver Jim Pantaleano then guided the winner to the Pocono Pike and streaked past the leader to enjoy a 1½ length margin at the wire.
 
With a Game Of Claim Series trot for horses valued between $20,000 and $30,000 starting in two weeks, diamondgaiters in that price range have been the interest of many, none more so than Chapolier, a Chapter Seven gelding who won in the $16,000 co-feature handicap claimer Monday in the fastest time of the year on the trot at Pocono, 1:53.2, despite the outside post eight. Tyler Buter  – the horse’s fourth successive new pilot – had the driving assignment in the quick mile, and Chapolier will be going to a new barn for the fourth straight time, after a one week’s reunion with trainer Hunter Oakes and P T Stable which ran his winning streak to five.
 
Tyler Buter came home first four times Monday, chipping into the meet advantage of Monday doubler George Napolitano Jr.; the latter’s lead is now 37-35.
 
Game Of Claims pacing horses ten divisions deep will race for $9000 a section in Tuesday’s final preliminary leg for a group which will carry a base tag of $15,000, headed by two-time prelim winners Stick With Cramer and Captain Terminator as this grouping heads towards its $17,500 Championship a week later. The Tuesday Pocono card will also feature carryover pools in the first race Pick 4 and fifth race Pick 3. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org. 

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Ron Burke, going for his fifth training title in the last six seasons at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, sent out the winner of the $17,000 features on both gaits Saturday afternoon, with Ordained winning the top trot and Solid Character home first in the headlining pace – both by the smallest possible margin.
 
The Father Patrick gelding Ordained is undefeated in two 2025 starts and has won five of his last six races, but after leading past the quarter poles in :27.3, :58, and 1:26.2, he had to dug in hard to just withstand pocketsitting Esmeralda Trio IT in 1:54.4. The meet’s leading driver, George Napolitano Jr., combined with the meet’s leading trainer for the win with Ordained, a winner of $232,781 owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Beasty LLC, and Frank Baldachino.
 
The Sweet Lou gelding Solid Character likewise had to be good to withstand a potential pocket rocket, favored Hungry Angel Boy, in 1:52.4. The winner, now with a career bankroll of $261,922, rattled off mild splits of :27.2, :56.4, and 1:24.3. then preserved his advantage to the wire for driver Matt Kakaley and the partnership of Burke Racing LLC, Robert Jackson, Timothy Sullivan, and Tom Wilson.
 
The other Burke-trained winner was a Weaver/Bruscemi horse undefeated in four starts since coming from Great Britain, the Kakaley-driven Foreclosure N gelding Borninlockdown GB, unthreatened in his 1:52 engine tally a level below the feature class.
 
There were two divisions of the $16,500 top claiming class for pacers, The quicker of them was won by the Stay Hungry gelding Lyons Surfing, last the first half but displaying his prime closing kick to win in 1:51 for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Gareth Dowse and P T Stable while winning for the fourth time in his last five trips behind the gate.
 
The other cut of the top claimers saw different tactics used by the winner, as Sun Of A Show led most of the way before stopping the timer in 1:51.4, his second straight success. The Sunfire Blue Chip gelding was guided by Simon Allard for trainer Herbert Lux III and owners William “Moon” Mullin and Howard Taylor.
 
Anthony Napolitano earned the driving honors for the card with four visits to Victory Lane.
 
Game Of Claims Pacing Series action returns for both Monday’s and Tuesday’s 1 p.m. card. Monday’s feature is the $20,000 Championship for horses with a $15,000 base tag – there were no three-time winners in the preliminaries, but half the eight-horse field won twice in the GOC prelims, and the other half visited Victory Lane once. Tuesday will feature ten $9000 divisions of the third and last preliminary of the series for horses priced at $15,000 for that card, including two-time winners Captain Terminator and Stick With Cramer. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Driver Jason Bartlett and trainer Per Engblom put on quite a show during a marathon 18-race qualifying session at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning. Bartlett led the field home ten times, while Engblom harnessed eight winners, and they paired together for seven victories.
 
Many of the horses out for the morning races were three-year-olds getting ready for the upcoming various Bobby Weiss Series for late-developing horses, including both of the fastest filly winners for their gait. Trainer Bruce Clarke took advantage of a pocket trip with Tagalong then sprang in the stretch to trot to the win in 1:57, the daughter of Walner quickest among several filly success stories on the day for B Clarke Racing LLC and Patricia Waldeck. (There were male trotters entered Wednesday as well, but they were beaten out either by contemporary fillies or older horses.)
 
The Sweet Lou filly Sweet Odds was also a pocket rocket to lead her grouping with a 1:55.3 time for Team Bartlett/Engblom and Morrison Racing Stables. On the colt side, another Sweet Lou offspring, the colt Mad River, closed in :27.2 to complete a 1:53.1 mile for Bartlett/Engblom and owner Daniel Sarafian, but while this colt fits the Weiss conditions, he was not nominated for the series. The Weiss action starts a week from Saturday on March 29, and each of the four sophomore events will follow up three preliminary rounds with a $50,000 Championship.
 
Open-class star pacers Desperate Man and A Rocknroll Star dueled in the last quarter in the quickest qualifier of the day, with the Shadow Play millionaire gelding Desperate Man catching his rival by ¾ of a length while posting a 1:51.1 victory for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander, and owner Kathy Cecchin.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA – It doesn’t happen very often that the words “On the entire card, no horse with the lead turning into the backstretch was able to hold on to the wire” appear in a summary story from Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, but such was the case on Tuesday afternoon, despite the temperature climbing from 48 degrees to 60 degrees during the 16-race program.
 
In a featured $11,000 overnight trot, One After Nine made the early lead and forced a tuck, but then let two horses go in the second stanza. Stalking from that positioning, the victorious Andover Hall gelding moved out to challenge near the top of the stretch, and in a three-horse photo beat out Cassius Hanover and Optrix, respectively, in 1:55 for driver Jim Pantaleano, trainer Laura Angle, and owners Howard and Joshua Kauffman.
 
There were no fewer than eleven $9000 divisions of the second prelim of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses valued at $12,500 this week, and two of them added a second series tally to their wins last week. The fastest GOC winner this week, Captain Terminator, went 1:52.4 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., but if he is going to make it three for three, he’ll be doing it for another barn, as he was claimed again this week. 

The other doubler, Stick With Cramer, managed to avoid being claimed last week, but this week he will be another to find himself in new surroundings after pulling driver Braxten Boyd to one of his three series wins, here in 1:53.2. (They were the only winners claimed, but overall seven horses went through the box Tuesday for $87,500, bringing the young meet totals to 81 and $1,419,000.)
 
Boyd also swept the Early Double, first winning with series debutante Split Pot in 1:54.4, and then coming right back with Texas Miki, third last week and a 1:54.1 visitor to Victory Lane Monday.
 
George Napolitano Jr. also notched three sulky successes on the day, with two coming in the Game Of Claims:  with Southwind Dredge, claimed while finishing second in the first round and paying immediate dividends on the investment in 1:53.3, and with Cards A Flyin, who overcame a hard journey while stopping the timer in 1:54.1.
 
Cards A Flyin and Split Pot were joined as winners by four other first-time competitors in this GOC series, many dropping down from higher claiming levels and finding the company more to their liking. The victorious first-time starters in this company, who like the two already named can’t go in the series finale ($17,500 on April 1) because they didn’t start in all three legs, were: The Cruz (driver Matt Kakaley) in 1:53.3, Yonkers invader Forever Fav (Jim Pantaleano) in 1:53, and a pair of winners for driver Tyler Buter: Snap Test in 1:54 and Colonel Bayama in 1:53.2.
 
Those carefully counting know that this list so far contains ten winners; the eleventh was Hashtag Money, who tired in the first GOC round but got the job done Tuesday in 1:54 for driver Simon Allard while paying the most of all the series winners, $35.60.
 
The next card of racing at Pocono is on Saturday at 1 p.m., with carryovers galore for those “following the money”: in the first race Superfecta, in the Pick 5 starting in race five, and in the last race High 5, this one a double carryover. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Sweet Lou mare Louisville GB improved on her already-high victory “batting average” on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, winning the $17,000 distaff pacing feature in 1:54.4 over a track rated “good,” with a strong backstretch headwind on a day with the mercury hovering around 40.
 
Louisville GB, who has not drawn on the left side of the gate now in five 2025 starts, had to leave from the outside post eight here, and driver Tyler Buter spotted her fifth on the first turn, then after a :28.2 quarter moved her uncovered in front of the stands. She grinded up during middle splits of :57.3 and 1:26, and despite the rugged trip the Great Britain-bred just kept eating up racetrack, winding up a 2 1/2 length winner.
 
Louisville GB has now won four of five starts this season while running her stateside record to six for seven and her lifetime tallies to 13 in 25 starts. She is trained by Robert Cleary for owner Kenneth Jacobs.
 
Horses base-tagged at $20,000 on Monday raced their third and final preliminary in their Game of Claims Pacing Series group in five $12,000 divisions. No one had been able to win in both of the earlier prelim legs; here all five winners had previously taken one leg of the GOC, but one of them, the only undefeated series horse of that fivesome, won’t be in the final, and one, the only winner in the second prelim who repeated Monday, will be changing barns after a claim  for the $20,000 series Championship seven days hence.
 
Ben Solo won two weeks ago, but then the Huntsville gelding was not entered in the second leg, which according to GOC rules made him ineligible for the final. Ben Solo, claimed out of the first GOC race, again overcame the outside post seven in 1:56.1 for driver Jim Pantaleano and his new connections of trainer Jacob Pantaleano and owner Sam Dalia, and now has three straight winning starts.
 
After a second the first week, the Heston Blue Chip gelding Blown Smoke was victorious in the second leg while being claimed, and with Anthony Napolitano driving he added a 1:55.2 win Mondaytying him for second round GOC speed honors, at the end of his brief stay with trainer Matias Ruiz (a conditioning doubler, both with “ANap”) and owner Jose Cervantes as the only Monday winner going to a new home.
 
The other 1:55.2 series winner was Tellsitsabb, a Tellititlikeitis gelding who was claimed both after a win the first week and after tiring in the middle leg. Tellitsabb won at first asking for trainer Hunter Oakes (also a a doubler) and owner Carmen Iannacone, and he was driven by three-time defending Pocono driving champion Matt Kakaley, who visited Victory Lane five times on the frosty card, including with both of Oakes’s winners.
 
Kakaley was also behind the JK Endofanera gelding T J’s Indy Pacer, who despite a first and then a second in the series was let go at 40-1, resulting in an un-Kakaley-like win payoff of $83.00 after he conquered his field from the outside post eight for trainer Darren Taneyhill and owner Mark Jakubik. The 1:57 winner was one of two Monday winners unclaimed during the prelims.
 
Jim Pantaleano added a second GOC victory with another horses who did not change hands in the prelims, the Captaintreacherous gelding Shipshape, who after a first and then a fourth bounced back to winning form in 1:56 for trainer Justin Pirillo and owner Gianna Pirillo – who haltered the horse for $6000 at The Meadows on February 5 and have since earned $16,710 with him.
 
No fewer than eleven $9000 divisions of the second prelim of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses base-tagged for $12,500 are scheduled for Tuesday, with all nine of the first round winners coming back and being joined by dropdowns from the Monday series who may find better fortune against easier opposition. There will also be a carryover into the last race High 5 wager. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The front end was a good place to race Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania despite it being a cool and windy day; that observation is perhaps best demonstrated by 11-1 shot Striking Impact, who won the $35,000 Championship of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses starting out with a $25,000 tag.
 
Anthony Napolitano sent the Always B Miki gelding straight to engine command and yielded to no one in fractions of :27.3, :56.3, and 1:23.4 despite no fewer than four separate bids from horses challenging to claim the top spot in various points. Striking Impact had the lead turning for home, shook off first-over Real Surreal, then withstood a late charge from two-holer Belmont Major N, who came clear between horses, by a half-length. Favored Lyons Surfing, winner in all three GOC prelims while beating :28 home each week, got a second-over trip but did not have as sharp a late kick this race, finishing another neck back in third.
 
Striking Impact was claimed in the middle prelim of the series by trainer Marta Piotrow and owner Debbie Avery. He won his final prelim, then held his form nicely to triumph in the Championship. (And there is no claiming from the final, so Striking Impact will have the chance to add to the $26,000 he has already collected for his new connections.)
 
In the $25,000 fast-class pace, the Somebeachsomewhere gelding Spring Inhis Step A again got a pocket trip behind Chase H Hanover as he did last week, but this week “Spring” had enough rally to catch the chalk by a nose in 1:49.3. Spring Inhis Step A used the rail to park Chase H Hanover past a :26.3 quarter, and the early effort “Chase” had to make to clear to the top  may just have made the difference in this matchup. The pocketsitter sat behind midsplits of :55.4 and 1:22.3, then moved out nearing headstretch and got the nod for driver Tyler Buter, trainer Jeff Cullipher, and Pollack Racing.
 
Earlier the $2,293,115 winner Charlie May posted the fastest clocking of the young season at the mountain oval as he wired a field just below the top class in 1:49.1. Ron Cushing was in control through splits of :26.1, :55, and 1:22.3, sprinting home for trainer Heidi Cushing. The success was Charlie May’s 31st in his career, but the first in the home state of owner Don Tiger.
 
A race after Charlie May’s, Pocono also saw its fastest trotting mile of 2025, courtesy of the Walner gelding Chef Rocco, who made the lead early then held off the late charge of favored Green Pastures in 1:53.4. The Chef cooked up fractions of :27.2, :57.2, and 1:25.1, then held well to the wire to triumph for driver Simon Allard and trainer-owner Mark Akins.
 
Ron Burke, going for his fifth Pocono dashwinning trainers title in six years, sent out four winners on the Saturday card to vault to the lead in the 2025 standings. Two of them were driven by George Napolitano Jr., who was the day’s top driver to visit the winners circle, going there three times.
 
The Game Of Claims Pacing Series will dominate the activity on Monday and Tuesday cards, both starting at 1 p.m. Five $12,000 divisions of the third and last prelim for horses with a base price of $20,000 on Monday will find fourteen different horses who won once during the first two legs – but nobody in the series could win in both prelims, meaning the scramble for spots in March 24’s final should be fierce. Monday’s card will also have a carryover into the fifth race Pick 5 wager. On Tuesday, there will be no fewer than eleven $9000 divisions of the second prelim of the GOC event for horses base-priced at $12,500, with many of the horses who had been in Monday’s series dropping down in search of better racing fortune. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA – You Got It found “it” in the last quarter and closed well to take the $12,500 featured trot Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania in 1:54.3.
 
The even-money favorite and a son of Chapter Seven, You Got It sat  fourth as Kinnder Thinktwice took the lead away from Purple Lord going past the :27.1 opening station, then backed the half of to :57. Cassius Hanover launched a first-over bid from third to challenge the leader, and You Got It’s inability to stay with his cover from second-over was partially explained when the three-quarters was hit in 1:24.4 – a :27.4 third quarter split.
 
But the winner found strong strides on the far turn, was able to take over from Cassius Hanover in the stretch, then held off a late comeback bid between horses by Purple Lord to post a  1¾ length triumph for trainer Joe Pavia Jr. and the partnership of Vince Ferriero Jr., Jeffrey Hess, and Pint Size Racing LLC. You Got It was driven by George Napolitano Jr., who had his third five-bagger in the last four local cards, leading the drivers both on the day and for the meet.
 
There were also nine $9000 divisions of the first preliminary of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses base-tagged at $10,000. “George Nap” steered two of the winning horses, and the teaming of driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Maria Alvarez also visited the winners circle twice.
 
Napolitano’s series winners were Mach Doro A, a Mach Three gelding who has taken four of his last six starts after a 1:55 victory for the meet’s leading conditioner, Peter Pellegrino, and owner Kathleen Napolitano, and the Trueland Hanover gelding Captain Terminator, who followed up a Meadowlands win with a 1:56.2 triumph here for trainer-owner Geovany Hernandez. The Captain was one of two GOC winners to be claimed (both exotically-bred: Saskatchewan and Ireland in the order here); the other was the Foreclosure N gelding Oakwoodnitownit IR (a spelling nightmare), who was home first in 1:54.3 for driver Tyler Buter and trainer-owner Adrian Wisher.
 
Succeeding for Team Boyd/Alvarez were the Art Major gelding Stick With Cramer, who took the first race of the day in 1:54.1 for owner Ronald Rettig-Zucchi, and Shrimp And Grits, an altered son of Shadow Play who recorded a 1:54.3 victory for Friendship Stables LLC.
 
Fastest series winner, by a full second, was the Huntsville gelding Human Cocktail, who laid off a hot pace then went to the fore to earn a new mark for 1:53.1 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., trainer Marc Mosher, and owner Stephen Demeter.
 
The other three Game Of Claims winner all went in 1:54.3: Jonah (a gelding by A Rocknroll Dance, for driver Jim Pantaleano, trainer Bryson Dunning, and owners Dante and Evgenlyna Scattolini); Pettipou (a Control The Moment gelding winning for driver Simon Allard and trainer-owner Mark Akins); and Gotafoolish Desire ( a Mr Apples gelding who was handled by Ridge Warren for trainer Bruce Lauer and Bill Reepmeyer LLC).
 
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a pair of marquee features: the $35,000 Championship of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for high-priced horses, with triple-prelim winner Lyons Surfing starting from the rail, and a $25,000 fast-class pace marking the return of Chase H Hanover, who last week paced the fastest mile of the young season at Pocono, in 1:49.4. There will also be a carryover into the last race High 5 – nobody solved the bet Monday, and Tuesday the race scratched down to a field of five, canceling the wager for the day. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.