By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Driver Simon Allard won three of the five $20,000 first-round preliminaries in the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old male pacers on Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, while in the two parallel events for trotters driver Tyler Buter piloted both winners home first.
 
Two of Allard’s victories came with Ron Burke trainees, with the faster being Panettone Hanover in 1:51.1. The Captaintreacherous gelding went on to the lead then withstood the inside charge of pocketsitting Ghost Shark by a head for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, William Switala and James Martin while recording a lifetime best. Two races earlier Allard, Burke, and Burke - Weaver/Bruscemi combined with Beasty LLC and Frank Baldachino and won with the Rockin Image gelding Somewhere Rockin, who took a new mark of 1:53.
 
Allard’s third winner in this section of the Weiss, named after the famed longtime Pocono track maintenance man, was the Always B Miki colt Joemikiyoursofine, who reduced his mark to 1:52.4 for trainer Chris Choate and owners Anthony Ruggeri and Richard Tosies.
 
The other Weiss pacing winners were the Heston Blue Chip colt All Class, undefeated in two career starts after lowering his record to 1:51.3 for driver Jason Bartlett, trainer Demier Minor, and Morrison Racing Stables, and the 28-1 shot Nopewasntme, recording a career best of 1:53.3 for driver Anthony Napolitano, trainer Leah Vandervort, and Anatolia Racing LLC.
 
The pacing colts will have their remaining two prelims and then their $50,000 Championship on the next three Saturdays; the trotting colts will be featured on the next three Sundays, but their first prelim was held on Saturday for horsemen who did not want to race on Easter, and so Buter got his Easter eggs a day early.
 
Both successful Weiss trotters stopped the timer in 1:55.1. The first was the Walner gelding Bestfriend Volo, who broke his maiden for trainer Nifty Norman and owners Pinske Stables, Patricia Stable, and Curly Tall Curly Small. Matching that time was the International Moni gelding Moni Book, two-for-two lifetime while also earning a new speed badge for trainer Justin Wiest and owners David Wiest Stables LLC, Pamela Kimmel, and James Rappold.
 
There were a pair of $18,500 fast-class features, once on each gait. On the pace, A Rocknroll Star, an altered son of A Rocknroll Dance, boogied to both a new lifetime mark and an equaling of the fastest mile of the year at Pocono with a 1:50.4 victory for driver Marcus Miller, trainer Robert Cleary, and owners Joseph and Vincent Barbera.
 
The top overnight trot was taken by the Cantab Hall gelding Macmorris Hanover in 1:54.1 for driver Jim Pantaleano and trainer Robert Baggitt Jr., the latter co-owner with J L Sadowsky LLC and Howard Taylor. Trainer/co-owner Baggitt also sent out a horse who turned in the fastest trot of the year at Pocono, a 1:53 winner in the Donato Hanover gelding Mystical Wynn, who was driven by George Napolitano Jr. and is co-owned by the trainer and Christine Baggitt.
 
The Weiss action for fillies will commence Monday (pacers) and Tuesday (trotters); as noted there will be no Weiss action on the Sunday card at 6 p.m., which is topped by a $17,000 contest for developing trotters. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Corey Callahan led all drivers on Friday at Harrah’s Philadelphia with four victories, including putting a new mark of 1:51 on Captain Crusader A in the $20,000 Open handicap pace for males.
 
Grand Cayman sprung right to the lead and established fractions of :27 and :55.3; Captain Crusader A launched an uncovered bid late in the backstretch and was moving up by the 1:22.4 three-quarters. Nearing the finish the winning son of Captaintreacherous wore down the pacesetter, having a half-length advantage at the wire for owners Jeff Cullipher and Pollack Racing LLC. Cullipher, who is also the trainer, has had a hot start at the Philly meet, sending out six winners in the first three days.
 
Kickupyaheels N, a daughter of A Rocknroll Dance, raced in a prime cover spot behind argued fractions of :27.1, :55, and 1:23, then closed to capture the companion $20,000 Open pace for mares while equaling her mark of 1:51.2. Dresden, who was part of the early battle then was shuffled back to fifth, came on again to be second, 1¾ lengths behind the winner, who was driven by Joe Bongiorno for trainer Chris Choate and owner Timothy Drag.
 
In the $15,300 pace for developing horses, the crowd sent off Fearful Intent at 4-5 and Luckbewithalex at 1-1, and the crowd’s favored duo provided the major fireworks, as Fearful Intent set fractions of :27.2, :56, and 1:23, but could not hold off the determined late bid of the Luck Be Withyou gelding Luckbewithalex by a nose. George Napolitano Jr. (who drove sire Luck Be Withyou to many major victories at Pocono, including the 2015 Franklin FFA Pace Final) was in the sulky behind his son for trainer Lance Hudson and owner William Hartt.
 
There will be no live racing at Harrah’s Philadelphia this Easter Sunday, but simulcasting will be available; the next live card at Harrah’s will be Thursday, April 13. Program pages for all Philly cards will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.      

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Rockin Image gelding Topville Somrocket, shipping in to Harrah’s Philadelphia from Yonkers, did not have an easy journey, but still proved the best in the $13,500 featured pace Thursday, winning in 1:51.4. 
 
Southwind Pharoah outleft everybody from the outside post seven to get the lead before the :27 quarter, with Topville Somrocket on his outside and River Ness behind that one. The winner cleared in front of the stands and then yielded to River Ness, who put down the middle splits of :55.2 and 1:23.1.
 
Driver Todd McCarthy, sensing his pacer still had a good deal of pace, vacated the two-hole midway around the far turn, and Topville Somrocket took it from there, going by in the stretch and handily defeating a resurgent Southwind Pharoah by 3¾ lengths for trainer Jeff Cullipher and owner Pollack Racing LLC.
 
Todd McCarthy had three victories on the card, as did Tim Tetrick; Tetrick, the track’s defending driving champion, has eight successes in the first two days of the meet. Trainer Cullipher has already harnessed four winning horses at Philly this season.
 
The Friday card at Harrah’s Philly, which starts at 12:25 p.m., will feature a pair of $20,000 Open Handicaps for the top fast-class pacers in the area. Friday’s will be the last live card of this week, as Philly will not host live racing on Sunday so that the Harrah’s family can spend Easter with their families (the facility will be open for simulcasting). 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 – On a warm April afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, driver Jim Pantaleano won three of Tuesday’s five $20,000 divisions of the first preliminary leg of the Game Of Claims Trotting Series for $25,000 base-tag horses, including two horses trained by Scott Betts.
 
Pantaleano/Betts produced the fastest GOC winner in the Muscle Massive gelding Manofmanymuscles, who led the entire last half in lowering his mark by two seconds to 1:54.2 for owner Timothy Betts. The trainer/driver team also posted a victory with Worthy Of Honor, who covered the mile in 1:56.3.
 
Pantaleano’s other winner was Nice Stuff, now two for three in 2023 after a 1:56.3 success for trainer Laura Angle. The other two GOC winners in the initial prelim were It’s A Horse (1:54.3 for a new mark while handled by Matt Kakaley, who led the drivers overall with four victories) and Elegant Dulupin FR (1:56.2, Mark MacDonald).
 
None of the five winners was claimed out of the first leg; in fact, there were only two horses who changed hands in the five races, although that total will likely grow in subsequent rounds now that owners and trainers have seen a Pocono race from the horses, many of whom shipped in from points throughout the eastern half of North America.
 
The Bobby Weiss Series for developing three-year-olds, named after the legendary longtime Pocono trackman, get underway with a bang on Pocono’s next card of action, Saturday at 1 p.m. The three-year-old pacing colts, who will have their preliminaries and Championship on Saturdays, go in five $20,000 divisions of their first prelim; also Saturday this week will be two $20,000 sections of trotting colts, who will have their future prelims and final on Sunday but whose schedule was rewritten to accommodate those horsemen not wishing to race on Easter Sunday. 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 – Favorites won all three $9000 divisions of the first preliminary round of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for $10,000 base-priced horses Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
Fastest of the successful trio was Globaldomination N, who enjoyed a drop in class and hung up a wire-to-wire victory in 1:53 for driver Jim Pantaleano. Unfortunately for his connections, he was claimed out of his race, and was another engine winner, Apple Valley Art, a Meadowlands invader who won in 1:54 for driver George Napolitano Jr.
 
Hudsen A made it three for three for the favorites in this GOC first prelim with a 1:55.1 victory from the pocket, but he got to “return home” with trainer/driver Pat Lachance and owner Jeffrey Dauplaise. 


In all, six horses were claimed in the first round, with many more likely to join their ranks before the $17,500 series Championship on Monday, April 24.
 
The first Tuesday afternoon card of the season at Pocono Downs will take place at 1 p.m., with trotters getting their shot at Game Of Claims action with five $20,000 first-round preliminaries for horses entered for a base tag of $25,000. 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 trio of $15,000 conditioned features for developing horses highlighted the first Sunday evening card of the season at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
In the feature division for pacing mares, the Heston Blue Chip sophomore filly Romantic Evening was ready in her second start of the campaign, grinding to the lead at the three-quarter pole and going on to reduce her mark a tick to 1:52.2. Tyler Buter drove the Nifty Norman trainee for Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC.
 
In the companion event for pacing males, Comet Crusader N took full advantage of starting from the rail, working out a pocket trip for driver Anthony Napolitano and rallying inside to lower his mark to 1:52.3. Mike Deters trains the winning son of Betting Line, and he shares ownership of him with Joel Warner, John Manning, and John Spindler.
 
The trotting event for the up-and-coming set saw the 35-1 shot Zette Flame make a big move nearing the far turn and went on to catch the 1-9 pacesetter Bright Side Up late while taking a mark of 1:55.1. The son of Love You was driven by Matt Kakaley for owner/trainer Cozette McAvoy.
 
There was also a $14,500 fast-class event for pacing mares, in which the team of driver Anthony Napolitano and trainer Mike Deters again took the big end of a purse after a pocket trip, winning with Prairie Westerngal in 1:52.3. The daughter of Western Ideal pushed her earnings to $318,474 for the ownership of Deters, Joel Warner, and Patricia Fritz. 
 
Monday’s 1 p.m. card will feature three $9000 divisions of the first preliminary in a Game Of Claims Series for pacers with a base price of $10,000. The Pocono week expands to four cards a week on Tuesday, with a Game Of Claims event for $25,000 base-priced trotters going in five $20,000 divisions of the initial prelim. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Rich And Miserable never looked back in winning the $20,000 Open handicap trot, the feature as Harrah’s Philadelphia opened its 2023 harness racing season on Sunday afternoon.
 
David Miller put the Explosive Matter gelding, now a winner of $746,274 for Buter Farm Inc. and Lynette Buter, right on the lead and posted splits of :27.3, :56.3, and 1:24.3. Lovedbythemasses, favored in his seasonal debut, got an early spot and then moved uncovered to challenge the winner, but he couldn’t sustain his bid and was no closer than 1¾ lengths behind the Todd Buter trainee at the end of the 1:53.1 mile.
 
Driver Miller came right back in the $15,300 co-featured trot with the favored Andover Hall mare Dreamonhigh, who rode the two-hole behind second choice Betterinpinehurst, then overhauled that one late to stop the timer in 1:55, 1¼ lengths to the good. Last year’s winningest trainer at Philly, Per Engblom, conditions the winner of $392,577 for Zippett Racing Stable and Amos Lengacher.
 
Miller finished out the card with four victories, one behind his fellow Hall Of Famer and 2022’s leading Philly driver Tim Tetrick. Three of Tetrick’s successes were sent out by the Jeff Cullipher stable and were owned by Pollack Racing LLC.
 
Harrah’s Philly will start its 2023 schedule on a schedule of Thursdays and Fridays at 12:25 and Sundays at 12:40; there will be an immediate deviation this coming week as the track will be dark for live racing this Sunday, April 9, Easter Sunday. 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 – Bettors Donttell, a 1:47.3 winner last year, improved off a third in his 2022 debut to take the $18,000 fast-class pace in 1:52.3 Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
On a day where only six of fourteen winners led both at the three-quarter pole and the finish, driver Simon Allard had the Bettor’s Delight gelding well-placed just on the shoulder of Phoenix Of Fluzzy, who had taken the field through fractions of :27.2, :56.2, and 1:23.3. Those two provided the majority of the stretch action, with Bettors Donttell overhauling the game pacesetter by three-quarters of a length for the sport’s leading team, trainer Ron Burke and owners Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
 
With the mercury reaching 70 degrees on the first of April, the Walner gelding TNT Blue Chip lowered his own mark for fastest trotting mile of the year at Pocono to 1:53.2. Anthony Napolitano put up big numbers of :27, :56.3, and 1:24.2 with the winner of three straight, holding off the long uncovered bid of Chapheart by three parts of a length while lowering his mark in the $17,000 conditioned trot for trainer Bruce Clarke, co-owner with Patricia Waldeck.
 
There were also a pair of $17,000 events for pacers. Sport Secret, a Sportswriter gelding who was unraced at two and then won over $200,000 in Ontario at three, made his seasonal bow a victorious one, getting to the wire a neck ahead of Luckbewithalex in 1:51.2 for driver Marcus Miller, trainer Jeff Cullipher, and Pollack Racing LLC. 
 
The other cut also resulted in a victory for Pollack Racing LLC as the Heston Blue Chip gelding Dragon City sat in the pocket behind first-over Samhara N and pacesetting C-bet Hanover before using the Pocono Pike to come through and succeed in 1:53.4. Ridge Warren drove the winner for trainer/co-owner Randy Bendis.
 
A pair of high-level claimers each won their fifth straight race: Busboy Hanover (who was claimed) and Park Official (who was not). Four other horses extended form streaks with their third consecutive success.
 
As Pocono expands its basic racing schedule to four days this week, it also switches its Sunday post time to 6 p.m. Highlighting the inaugural evening card of 2023 locally are a trio of $15,000 conditioned events: one for trotters, one for pacing males, and one for pacing mares. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.