By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Mankat was out most of the quarter in one of the three $15,300 feature races during a sweltering Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but from there the four-year-old son of Somebeachsomewhere was never threatened while lowering his mark to 1:50.4 in the division for male pacers.
 
Mankat, starting from post three, was kept outside most of the :26.3 opener by Horse to his immediate inside, but after using his horse to control the throttle, driver Jim Pantaleano was able to back off the half to a “moderate” :55.4. Mankat had to speed up again as favored Tell Them Lou made a steady charge up to and past the 1:22.4 three-quarters, but though the chalk did well he had to settle for second, a length behind the Christen Pantaleano trainee, now a winner of two of his last three (and with two more races of eligibility in this class) for owner Matthew Morrison.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Pond Jumper, the only horse to enter the $11,200 featured trot on Monday at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono with the optional $20,000 claiming price, held off his opposition as the favorite in 1:56 on a hot day.
 
George Napolitano Jr. had the altered son of Honeycomb Hanover between horses early, getting the lead, yielding to Conquest AS, and immediately reclaiming the lead. Pond Jumper maintained an advantage to the finish against several tough closers, with the nearest, Explosive Breakaway, in his first starts since January 11, only a half-length back on the far outside.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Shecandance N was dancing fastest of all late, just catching favored Crazy Cute to win the $13,000 featured distaff pace during Sunday’s twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
Cavairt Cherie was first to the lead, yielding to April Ava before the :27 quarter, and then the latter gave up the lead to Crazy Cute in front of the stands, with the chalk posting middle fractions of :55.3 and 1:23.3. It looked like Crazy Cute’s toughest stretch opposition was going to come from her left, with both April Ava and Caviart Cherie mounting bids in the Pocono Pike, but driver Marcus Miller and Shecandance N, far back most of the way and widest of the main challengers, streaked by right on the money for a nose  decision. April Ava was third, another neck back, with Caviart Cherie fourth while beaten only three-quarters of a length for it all.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
PROSPECT PA – The 2021 Pennsylvania Fair Harness Racing Circuit gets into action on Tuesday with two days of racing at noon at the Big Butler Fair, in this town north of Pittsburgh in westcentral Pennsylvania. The draw for the races was held Sunday.
 
There will be the traditional twenty stops along the twicearound circuit: five “two-day” events away from the fairs, as prescribed by state law, and fifteen meets during the operation of the fairs. The circuit will extend to its traditional closing spot at the Bloomsburg Fair in late September. The top horses on the circuit will gather at The Meadows on October 8 to decide their divisional Championships.
 
Two-year-olds will be featured on the Tuesday card. Wednesday’s card featuring three-year-olds finds two 2020 Fair Championship winners competing, both fillies: Tiamogonedancin on the pace and Explosive Flower on the trot, in consecutive races. Given the cooperation of the weather, the Butler track records – 2:03 on the trot by Dauphin Hanover in 1994, and 2:00.1 on the pace by Crew Sock Hanover in 2019 -- could be approachable.
 
FINISHING LINES -- The United States Trotting Association recently announced the ten fairs who would be getting $1000 in matching marketing funds based on applications to the USTA, and Pennsylvania venues dominated the list with four awardees: the Clearfield County Fair, the Erie County Fair in Wattsburg, the Greene County Fair in Waynesburg, and the Indiana County Fair.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – On a Saturday afternoon that wasn’t very  hospitable to front-end speed or very fast times, Hickfromfrenchlick defied both “norms” by taking the $15,700 pacing feature in 1:49.4 while ahead every step of the mile.
 
Driver Mark MacDonald had the son of So Surreal firing away out of the gate from the rail and caused a “lineup” in the field of five, with favored J M Mandamin right on his back through fractions of :26.4, :56, and 1:22.3. JM Mandamin dipped down to the Pocono Pike and gained some ground, but Hickfromfrenchlick dug down deep when challenged and maintained a head advantage to the wire, going his last half in :53.4.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Betting Line sophomore colt Double Metal was the most impressive of the four winners of the $12,600 features at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon.
 
Gretzky shot out to the lead in :27.2 and would not yield to challengers, getting early mover His Beats Hanover to make a break early and stringing out the field past a :56 half. Favored Betterthanthebeach pulled the pocket to challenge him, but the pacesetter would not yield at the 1:23 three-quarters and around the far turn.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Father Patrick four-year-old Big Oil may be finding himself in top FFA company soon after he posted a 1:52.3 victory over odds-on favorite Scirocco Rob in the $16,200 featured trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia Thursday afternoon.
 
Andy Miller got his charge to the lead nearing the 1/8 pole, then was content to yield the engine near the :26.4 opener to the charging favorite, who posted middle splits of :55.1 and 1:23.4. Scirocco Rob still had the lead turning for home, but Miller had two handfuls of horse when he tipped him out wide, going on to post a three-quarters of a length victory.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Give full credit to Take All Comers for authoring a powerful 1:53.2 victory in one of two divisions of the third prelim of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting colts on Wednesday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but capturing as much attention was the early-race break of Captain Corey, the 2020 divisional Sire Stakes champion and an easy winner in his 2021 bow.
 
With the more powerful half of the Svanstedt stable out of the race, it was left to stablemate Fly Light to try to salvage the 1-20 betting on the coupled entry, and Fly Light went to the top from post seven, passing 18-1 shot Take All Comers who yielded, and posted fractions of :27.2, :56.4, and 1:25.1. But midway around the final turn, driver David Miller gave the signal to Take All Comers, an altered son of Creatine – Nantab and thus a half-brother to Next Level Stuff, and he quickly took over, winning by 3¼ lengths over Goodashim, who rallied inside to catch Fly Light by a neck.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The four-year-old Bolt The Duer gelding Blank Stare, a winner in his New York Sire Stakes Championship last season, finally broke through after a series of close finishes to post his first 2021 victory, a 1:51.3 win in the pacing half of twin $15,300 features on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
The track was still listed “sloppy +1” after morning rains (which had stopped) when the feature field took to the track, with Im A Gigolo N taking the field past the quarter in :27.3 and then yielding to Tell Them Lou before the :55.3 half. Blank Stare remained fourth, directly behind Cigar Smoking Tony, as that one would start out first-over past mid-backstretch and would challenge the leader by the 1:24 three quarters. In the stretch Cigar Smoking Tony grinded down Tell Them Lou, but then could not resist the inch-by-inch relentless gain of Blank Stare, who got by Cigar Smoking Tony by a head, with Tell Then All missing it all by only a half length.