By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – South Beach Star has worked himself into top form early in the season, as he won the $15,300 featured pace at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon in 1:49.4, despite a sloppy track with a two-second variant.
 
David Miller kept the Somebeachsomewhere gelding just off active :27 early battling, then rushed his horse to the lead past favored Duke Of Cornwall en route to middle fractions of :54.4 and 1:22.2. In the stretch the major contest turned out to be between these two, with Duke Of Cornwall able to withstand his rival’s late rally by a neck.
 
South Beach Star has now won three of his last four starts, and with this win he boosted his career bankroll to $201,214. Mark Silva trains the winner for All Star Racing Inc.
 
The second-level pacing feature, which went for $14,400, provided a sharp winner in the Sweet Lou gelding Boston. He sat just behind Wine N Dine Me, like Boston 4-5 in the betting (the latter had a few more dollars on him), then came on along the inside to leave the pacesetter behind by 1¾ lengths at the 1:52.1 finish for Team Bongiorno, driver Joe and trainer/sister Jenn, and the partnership of Glenn Goller and Stephen Demeter.
 
Yall Beneath Me, a son of Googoo Gaagaa, added to his impressive lifetime win totals with a 1:53.3 engine victory in a $13,000 trot, overcoming the outermost starting slot. Driven by Johnathan Ahle for trainer/driver Richard Hans (the developer of Googoo Gaagaa), Yall Beneath Me has six wins in seven 2023 starts and 26 victories in but 40 lifetime trips behind the starting gate.
 
Tim Tetrick won the last race to emerge as the day’s leading driver with three victories.
 
Racing resumes at Harrah’s Philly at 12:25 on Thursday;  there will be a guaranteed $15,000 Pick-5 pool for the wager to pick the winners in races five through nine, with a $3928.39 carryover from the Sunday card. This week there will also be a special live card on Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day, with the trotting and pacing horses first going to the gate at 12:40. Program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.     

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – In the richest race of the young season at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, the $50,000 Bobby Weiss Series Championship for three-year-old pacing colts, second choice I Was Tricked worked out the pocket trip behind the previously-unbeaten favorite, All Class, then went to the lead in the stretch and held off a pair of longshots to lower his mark to 1:50.4.
 
Braxten Boyd, as hot as any driver at Pocono recently and up to fifth in the local win standings, shot the Huntsville gelding away from the gate, making the lead in a :26.2 opening quarter, then sat content behind the brushing favorite, who took over going under the wire the first time and put up middle splits of :54.3 and 1:22.2.
 
The hard usage, stiff fractions and backstretch headwind took their toll on All Class in the stretch, with I Was Tricked able to pace by the pacesetter fairly easily, with second-over Nopewasntme ducking inside the winner to grab second at 70-1, three-quarters of a length back. Joemikiyoursofine came up the inside at 50-1 for third; All Class had to settle for fourth.
 
Unraced at two, I Was Tricked won his last two Weiss preliminaries and now is four-for-six lifetime for trainer Nicholas Devita and the ownership of Devita Racing Stable, David Hamm, Christopher Giaccio, and Glenn Phillips.
 
The Stay Hungry gelding Hunters Hero picked an opportune time to break his maiden while winning the $20,000 Weiss Consolation, sitting a fine two-hole trip then rallying along the inside to hold off Simply Fast by a neck in 1:52.3. Matt Kakaley drove the Travis Alexander trainee for Fiddler’s Creek Stables Inc.
 
There were a pair of $18,500 fast-class features, one on each gait. In the pace, Seriously Hanover was able to make the lead without running into his breaking bugaboo, and he went on to hold off a good bid from pocketsitter Sport Secret to win in 1:51, half a length ahead. The gelded son of Western Ideal, another Kakaley/Alexander production, is owned by Michael Cimaglio, Stephen Demeter, and Stephen Giagni.
 
On the trot, the Explosive Matter gelding Rich And Miserable returned to the scene of many of his 46 career victories; this one was one of the closest, as after setting most of the pace he was extended to defeat Miss McKee by a head in 1:55. Tyler Buter had his usual perch behind the winner of $759,619, who is trained by Todd Buter and is owned by Buter Farm Inc. and Lynette Buter.
 
Park Official recorded his eighth straight victory in the $16,500 claiming handicap pace for top-drawer selling horses. Anthony Napolitano came from off the pace with the Art Official gelding, and he was pacing well late to defeat Elwell by 1½ lengths in 1:53. The winner of the Game Of Claims Series highest-level Championship, Park Official was claimed for $30,000 by trainer Marta Piotrow and owner Debbie Avery just before that final, and they have been rewarded with five victories and earnings of $53,000 since March 18.
 
The Sunday 6 p.m. card will feature the $50,000 Championship of the Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting males. Bestfriend Hanover, undefeated in two Weiss preliminaries, is the early favorite to get the job done in this Weiss finale. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – A Rocknroll Star is quickly becoming quite the equine star, winning his sixth straight race in the $20,000 Open pace for males on Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with the 1:51.1 clocking achieved despite a “sloppy” oval.
 
Marcus Miller got the altered son of A Rocknroll Dance to the early lead, then yielded to sit behind favored Kokomo Beach as that one cleared at the :26.4 quarter and then hung middle numbers of :55 and 1:23.4. A Rocknroll Star still had a full tank coming for home and paced by the chalk for a length victory, giving him eight wins in ten starts this season and nineteen in but fifty-two career trips to the gate. Robert Cleary trains the very sharp pacer for Joseph and Vincent Barbera.
 
The Sweet Lou mare Feeling Sweet and driver Michael Cole wanted nobody ahead of them in the $20,000 distaff Open handicap pace, and she posted splits of :26.4, :54.4, and 1:23.1 en route to achieving that goal in 1:51.3. Favored Fade Out, racing off the pace after being assigned an outer slot, did well to get second after traffic difficulties but still was 2¾ lengths behind the winner of $503,160, who is trained by Joseph Columbo for George & Tina Dennis Racing.
 
Sunday’s card, beginning at 12:40, is headed by a $15,300 pace which combines both developing horses and fast-class veterans in an interesting and competitive mix. Program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.                                                  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – This coming racing week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, each of the four racing cards will present a $50,000 Championship race in the Bobby Weiss Series for developing three-year-olds. Each day except Sunday will also feature a $20,000 consolation for Weiss competitors who did not earn enough points to secure a place in the Championship.
 
Named after the retired Pocono trackman who helped make the local racing surface into one of the best in North American racing, the Weiss series each staged three preliminary legs for up-and-coming sophomores, and after many competitive races in each division in each week, the best will get to go for the big money this week.
 
Saturday’s Championship is for three-year-old pacing colts, with the Heston Blue Chip colt All Class the early favorite. All Class won both his Weiss prelims, last week coming home in :26.3 against the wind and under a hold, and he will look to keep his lifetime record unblemished as Jason Bartlett will be behind him as he starts from post six. In this group, there were no fewer than seven different preliminary winners, and everybody will be primed to get after a big share of the big money.
 
Sunday’s headliner will be for three-year-old trotting colts, and Bestfriend Volo has been given the favorite’s mantle as he begins from starting slot three for driver Tyler Buter. A Walner gelding, Bestfriend Volo won handily in the first two Weiss prelims for his group, then took last week off. Moni Book (post four, driver Marcus Miller) also was a double winner in the preliminaries.
 
The three-year-old pacing fillies going postward on Monday will have to contend with the Betting Line filly C Is For Cookie, the only Weiss competitor to have visited Victory Lane after all three weeks of Weiss prelim action. Scott Zeron hasn’t had to really ask his filly, who starts from the rail, for maximum effort yet, but that question may come on Monday as C Is For Cookie faces five other Weiss winners, including double prelim winner Relentless Julie.
 
In Tuesday’s trotting filly ranks, the Walner filly Kaddari, a $375,000 yearling, has made only two lifetime starts, with both being clear victories in the Weiss, and she will have the advantage of beginning from the rail for Team Melander. A Good Chardonnay and Quite Fast each won two prelims in this division, but they are burdened here with posts six and seven, respectively. As much as any horse, sire Walner was the “big story” in this grouping, as he fathered seven of the eight Weiss prelim winners.
 
Post times for this week’s cards will be 1 p.m. on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday and 6 p.m. on Sunday, with the $50,000 Weiss Championships slotted for race ten during each day’s fourteen-race card. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The sophomore Muscle Hill colt Dyladmar was the most impressive winner in the four $13,500 featured races held at Harrah’s Philadelphia Thursday afternoon, winning the section for trotters in 1:53, just four-fifths of a second off the divisional track record held by Googoo Gaagaa.
 
Andrew McCarthy reserved the three-year-old trotter off the pace, then sent him on his way raw going down the backstretch. Dyladmar gradually trotted up to pacesetter Donzel Hanover, the winner last week in Dyladmar’s 2023 debut, but with a race under his girth it was the horse on the outside who proved the stronger here, lowering his mark by almost three seconds while covering his back half in :55.2 - :27.2. Paula Wellwood trains the promising youngster for Dreamville Stable.
 
There were two divisions of the feature for male pacers, with the faster won by the Captaintreacherous colt Ken Hanover in 1:51.3 to post a new mark in his 2023 debut. A winner of over $160,000 at two when a multiple stake winner, Ken Hanover brushed to the lead in front of the stands and was a handy winner for driver David Miller and trainer Polie Mallar, the latter co-owner with Patrick Leavitt, William Jordan, and Dennis Osterholt.
 
Also taking a turn in the feature spotlight was another Captaintreacherous sophomore, the gelding Captain Albert G, who controlled the pace with two moves and won in a career-best 1:52.4. Jack Pelling drove the winenr for trainer/father Brett and the ownership of Melvin Segal and Pelling Racing LLC.
 
The distaff pacing headliner also produced a new mark, the 1:52.4 recorded by the Stay Hungry filly Legal Jeopardy. The winner moved nearing the final turn and had the most pace in the latter stages for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Jim King Jr., and owners Jo-Ann Looney King and Kenneth Frieder.
 
Andrew McCarthy and David Miller headed the drivers colony with three Thursday triumphs.
 
Fade Out and Kickupyaheels N, 1-2 in last Friday’s $20,000 distaff Open pace, have been assigned the outermost posts in this Friday’s top event for the females. The Open for males finds a well-matched group of six ready to face each other. Post time Friday is 12:25 p.m.; program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.                                                  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Elegant Dulupin FR took full advantage of the rail in the $40,000 Game Of Claims Series Championship for $25,000-based trotters, going wire-to-wire for driver Mark MacDonald while taking a new mark of 1:55.
 
Let go at 11-1 despite two preliminary wins, Elegant Dulupin FR left strongly and caused a “lineup,” setting fractions of :27.1, :56.2, and 1:25.3. Many of the field made what looked like threatening moves on the far turn, but the Jasmin De Flore gelding Elegant Dulupin FR, who had lost fourteen straight races on both sides of the Atlantic before hitting his current sharp four-of-seven form, trotted clear of his opposition for trainer John McDermott and the ownership of Jonathan Klee Racing, Justin Bolasci, and Hurrikane Racing LLC.
 
No one could come up with a preliminary sweep in the Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting fillies; after the scores were tallied following Tuesday’s two $20,000 prelims, four came within one of perfection: Kaddari, A Good Chardonnay, and Quite Fast won two prelims, and sire Walner fathered the winner of seven of the eight prelims during the three legs, including Tuesday’s two winners.
 
Kaddari, a $375,000 yearling purchase, started only twice in the Weiss – indeed, has only started twice in her career – but she has shown no weaknesses yet, winning in 1:56.3 with a strong inside burst after a pocket trip for driver Mattias Melander, trainer/brother Marcus, and Courant Inc.
 
Kaddari’s main challenger in the divisional Championship may be Baby Oil, who broke her maiden on Tuesday with a 1:56.1 clocking, but who had two seconds in the other legs. Baby Oil used the engine and won safely for Team Orange Crush, driver Andy and trainer Julie Miller, and the partnership of Jason and Douglas Allen.
 
The first of the four $50,000 Bobby Weiss Series Championships for three-year-olds will headline the card when racing resumes at Pocono Saturday at 1 p.m. The pacing colts will be first in the spotlight, with trotting colts, pacing fillies, and trotting fillies following in the remaining three days of the Pocono week.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – On a Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania where horses racing up front did not do too well late, the best illustration of that concept came in the $20,000 Championship of the Game Of Pacing Claims Series for $10,000-base claimers, where Southwind Dredge was last at every call but the most important one, thundering by his field to reach the wire first in 1:54.2.
 
The favored Globaldomination N went to the lead and set a moderate pace, but watching the far turn it was evident that much of the power was out very wide on that bend. Southwind Dredge was widest of all, five-deep as they swung for home, and he was full of pace to defeat Riot, who also closed well but not as well as the winning son of Bettor’s Delight, by a length. Tyler Buter drove the winner for trainer Jason Brewer and owner Barry Franklin.
 
C Is For Cookie completed a sweep of her three preliminaries in her Weiss Series division for pacing fillies with a 1:52.2 success in her $20,000 division for trainer Linda Toscano and Birnam Wood Farms. The Betting Line filly, out of the dam of Sweet Lou and Bettors Sweet, has been a push-button horse for driver Scott Zeron, responding to requests for a bit more with long and powerful strides.
 
Relentless Julie tried to equal C Is For Cookie as a Weiss prelim sweeper, but Lodestar beat her out by a head in 1:53.2, a career best for the Stay Hungry miss who won her seasonal debut and is now undefeated in three lifetime trips to the gate. Marcus Miller handled the driving for trainer Juan Cano and Hot Lead Farm.
 
The other Weiss section proved the fastest of Monday’s three cuts, with the Heston Blue Chip filly Square Deal equaling her lifetime best of 1:52.1 for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Michael Hall, the latter co-owner with Let It Ride Stables Inc.
 
Also of interest was the career debut of the Chapter Seven sophomore filly Mandrill, a $750,000 yearling largely because she is a full sister to 2020 Trotter of the Year Gimpanzee (a mandrill is a member of that animal family as well). Mandrill looked like a seasoned pro in her bow, coming first-over and still being able to power home 3¼ lengths clear in 1:56.4. Mattias Melander drove the promising miss for trainer/brother Marcus and S R F Stable.
 
The week-ending card at Pocono on Tuesday begins at 1 p.m., with three-year-old trotting fillies contesting their final preliminary leg of their Weiss Series action, looking to confirm spots in their $50,000 Championship a week from Tuesday. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – A pair of 13-1 shots won their $20,000 third and final preliminary divisions of the Bobby Weiss Series at Pocono Downs for three-year-old trotting colts at Mohegan Pennsylvania on a cool Sunday night.
 
Braxten Boyd’s 13-1 winner wasn’t as surprising as it might be otherwise, as the 23-year-old rising star added $28.20 Wentworth Hanover to Sunday victories with $42.20, $28.40, $11.60 and $11.20 shots. Wentworth Hanover, an International Moni gelding trained by Clifton Green for the LCT Stable, got the best post draw of his five-race career and made the most of it, closing  for a neck victory over G Load while breaking his maiden in 1:56.2. Favored Moni Book, off wins in the first two legs, set the pace but had to settle for third, a half-length back.
 
Mark MacDonald used opposite tactics with 13-1 shot Snowman Hanover, and the Bar Hopping gelding drew away in the last quarter while lowering his mark to 1:55.4. Ray Schnittker trains the winner for 
Schnittker Bordogna, Arden Homestead Stable, Steven Arnold, and Ted Gewertz. Next week’s $50,000 Weiss Championship for this division now looks more wide-open than it did entering the evening.
 
Top pacing events on the night card were a pair of $16,500 contests for the highest-priced claiming horses on the grounds. And the hottest claimer on the grounds, the Art Official gelding Park Official, rolled to his seventh straight victory in one division, charging up the inside as the pocket rocket for a 1:53 win for driver Anthony Napolitano (one behind Boyd with four winners on the card), trainer Marta Piotrow, and owner Debbie Avery, who’s won $44,750 with her astute $30,000 claim of March 18. 
 
The other top claimer went to the Cam’s Card Shark gelding Urban Renewal, who continued one trend on the card as a 14-1 shot while bucking another as a coast-to-coast winner in 1:52.4 for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Mike Watson, and Friendship Stables LLC.
 
Monday’s 1 p.m. program at Pocono is topped by the $20,000 Championship for Game Of Claims Pacing Series horses with a series base tag of $10,000 (no claiming from the finals); it also features the final prelim leg for the Weiss Series for three-year-old pacing fillies, with C Is For Cookie and Relentless Julie looking for their third straight against their Weiss contemporaries. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.   

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Features for all types of horses – trotters and pacers, fast-class veterans and developing younger stock – helped close out the racing week at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.
 
Top purse event of the day was a $15,300 pace that saw Yonkers invader Twin B Heart Throb overcome both the outside post and a tough two-move journey to get the job done in 1:52.1, a half-length ahead of an inside-rallying Jay Bracken A. Simon Allard drove the successful son of Betterthancheddar for trainer Jeff Cullipher, the meet’s leading trainer who is also co-owner with Pollack Racing LLC.
 
The other sidewheeling headliner was a $13,500 contest in which the Captaintreacherous colt Captain Batboy remained undefeated in two seasonal races, taking the lead late on the first turn and staying clear in a lifetime best of 1:50.4. The meet’s top sulkysitter, Tim Tetrick, drove the promising sophomore for trainer Tom Fanning and owner Joseph Smith.
 
Taking the first of two $13,000 features for high-level trotters was Keg Stand, a winner of $360,666 in stakes company at two and three and a winner in his four-year-old debut in 1:52.4, a race mark. The son of Bar Hopping lured Yannick Gingras down for a cameo sulky appearance, and Keg Stand had no problem in the latter stages for trainer Nancy Takter and owners Black Horse Racing, Christina Takter, and John Fielding.
 
The second trotting section saw the two favorites, Betterinpinehurst and Flip The Switch, going full-out against each other the last five-sixteenths, with the Better Caviar gelding Betterinpinehurst overcoming first-over duty to catch the pacesetter by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.3. Trainer Jeff Cullipher and the partnership of Cullipher and Pollack Racing LLC accounted for a feature win on each gait, and Tim Tetrick drove Betterinpinehurst, one of his five winners on the card and also a feature winner on each gait.
 
Harrah’s currently races on a Thursday and Friday (12:25) and Sunday (12:40) schedule, with Wednesdays at 12:25 to be added May 17. There will also be a live racing card at the southeast Pennsylvania oval on Kentucky Derby Day, May 6. Program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – All Class and I Was Tricked became two-time winners in the Bobby Weiss Series, taking $20,000 final round preliminaries for the sophomore pacing colts Saturday afternoon at Pocono, and they will likely be among the favorites when their $50,000 Weiss Championship is conducted next Saturday.
 
The Heston Blue Chip colt All Class gets top billing because his time on Saturday, 1:51.2, was a tick faster than that of I Was Tricked. All Class, who took a new mark, set the pace for driver Jason Bartlett, then stormed home in 26.3 to remain undefeated in two seasonal starts and three races lifetime, and there may be room for more improvement for trainer Demier Minor and Morrison Racing Stables.
 
The Huntsville gelding I Was Tricked, also coming off a Weiss win in his last race, likewise found the front end as the best route to victory, lowering his mark for driver Braxten Boyd while a length ahead of Joemikiyoursofine at the wire for trainer Nicholas Devita and the partnership of Devita Racing Stable Inc., David Hamm, Christopher Giaccio, and Glenn Phillips.
 
None of the entrants in the third Weiss cut had recorded a victory in the last two weeks, so the Sweet Lou gelding Idiosyncratic gave his chances of making the final a big boost when he was able to rally for an easy win in 1:52.3. Second in his previous two Weiss outings, Idiosyncratic was successful for driver Simon Allard, trainer Ron Burke, and Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
 
There were also three $18,500 fast-class co-features, one on the trot and two on the pace. The trotters raced first and were headed by the Lucky Chucky gelding Kinda Lucky Lindy, unbeaten in two starts since coming to Yonkers after a 1:54 victory. The winner of $532,192 had to grind outside pacesetter Mystical Wynn for most of the last half mile, but still was able to photo out that rival by a head for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Daniel Renaud, and owner Robert Di Nozzi.
 
On the pace, Maximus Miki was moved from midpack at the quarter by George Napolitano Jr., brushed to the lead, then held off the late charge of potential pocket rocket Bill Haley N by a neck in 1:50.1. The Always B Miki gelding now has won six of his twelve seasonal starts for Team Cancelliere, trainer Tom and owner John, and with this win his lifetime earnings are $100,004.
 
The Western Ideal gelding Seriously Hanover, plagued by breaking problems recently, minded his manners and went wire-to-wire to take the other pacing co-feature in 1:50.4. Matt Kakaley was in the sulky for trainer Travis Alexander and owners Michael Cimaglio, Stephen Demeter, and Stephen Giagni.
 
Sunday’s 6 p.m. card at The Downs will be topped by two $20,000 divisions of the third and final preliminary leg of the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting colts, with the entrants looking to secure spots in their $50,000 Championship a week from Sunday. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.