By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CLEARFIELD PA – The Tuesday and Wednesday cards at the Clearfield (PA) County Fair were devoted to Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes racing for three-year-olds. The pacers, on Wednesday, produced three sub-2:00 miles – with the fastest coming in an unlikely circumstance.
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The Delmarvalous filly April Ava, winless in 2019 and entered in the “B” division of the Sire Stakes, won off by nine lengths fordriver Eric Neal, stopping the timing watch in 1:59, almost five seconds better than her previous career best. Owned and trained by Wayne Glessner, April Ava had been consistently pacing in the 1:56 range at The Meadows without success, but she obviously enjoyed the move to the twicearound oval, and in the process lowered the circuit’s divisional season’s record.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Muscle Hill sophomore colt Demon Onthe Hill trotted to a new mark of 1:54.3 victory in the $16,000 featured event at Harrah’s Philadelphia, perhaps a good sign for trainer Marcus Melander as he heads into the Hambletonian on Saturday.
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Tim Tetrick, posting another five winners on the day, settled the winner of $155,405 in third as Klutzy set the pace, with favored Nextroundsonme in the pocket. Demon Onthe Hill was sent outside late on the backstretch to go after the leader after Nextroundsonme started to gap (he eventually broke), and the “Demon” finished briskly to leave Klutzy 3 3/4 lengths behind him late. Vicky Trotting Inc. may find themselves with a promising trotter finally headed in the right direction.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Western Fame, based at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and still the only free-for-all pacer with over $500,000 in earnings this season, has been made the 5-2 favorite for a $30,000 division of the Great Northeast Open Series (GNOS) for fast-class pacers at the mountain track Saturday night.
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The son of Western Ideal, trained by Pocono’s leading conditioner Rene Allard for the partnership of Go Fast Stable, Stephen Klunowski, B & I Stables LLC, and Gil Short, earned the bulk of his 2019 bankroll during the Levy Series at Yonkers, taking the $664,000 Levy Final on April 20. The biggest earner among three career millionaires in the field with a lifetime total of $1,580,320, Western Fame will start from post three for driver Simon Allard, Rene’s brother – and the horse needs a big finish if he is to have a good chance of qualifying for his $100,000 GNOS Championship, to be held at 1¼ miles on Monday, September 9 at The Downs.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – A passing storm cell which twice delayed the Tuesday twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono resulted in a sloppy track by the time the card’s features, a pair of $15,000 trots, went to post.

In one trot headliner, the Cantab Hall four-year-old stallion Captain Morgan fulfilled the intermittent promise he had shown in just eleven starts at two and three combined, winning wire-to-wire in 1:54.1 in the muck for a lifetime best. Christian Lind and Captain Morgan sped to the quarter in 26.4, rebuffed midrace challenges from first the second choice Fraulein Blucher and then the favored Spectre, and finally held off inside-charging 107-1 shot P L Ketchup by half a length. 

A stakes winner at two and three despite his paucity of races, Captain Morgan may be one to keep an eye on as he continues for trainer Staffan Lind and the ownership of Lind Racing Stable LLC, Bender Sweden Inc., Roy Holth, and KemppiSuojalampiStable.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CLEARFIELD PA – The first two days of a four-day meet at the Clearfield (PA) County Fairgrounds were devoted to Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes racing for two-year-olds, with the trotters going on Sunday and the pacers on Monday.
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The brightest star to shine among the babies was the two-year-old pacing filly Dream Dancing, who won for the fourth time at the fairs this year, with her final Clearfield clocking of 2:01.4 coming with 2/5 of a second of the eight-year-old local divisional standard of Chrome Over. Dream Dancing finished over 20 lengths clear of her competition, the A Rocknroll Dance – Clearly Foxy miss stepping home in :58.4 for trainer/driver Dave Brickell, co-owner with Mitchell York.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Using a tactic proven successful earlier over a surface turned sloppy midcard, Say You Do was sent to the lead early in the race by driver Tyler Buter and went on to notch sixth consecutive victory, winning the $21,500 featured trot Sunday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 1:54.3.

Say You Do settled for the pocket early as Winning Shadow pressed on to command, then was underway near the :28.1 quarter to grab the lead by a :57 half. The winning gelded son of Credit Winner saw Fashion Creditor come up to contest the issue nearing the 1:26.1 three-quarters, but a :28.2 last quarter enabled Say You Do to be 1½ lengths clear of Winning Shadow for second; he in turn was a half-length ahead of Classicality, who finished a neck better than Fashion Creditor.
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Say You Do has come on in a big way in 2019 – he’s won six in a row, eight of his last nine, and is 9-for-11 on the year. Todd Buter is doing the conditioning of the sharp trotter for Oldfield Racing LLC.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The $20,000 claiming handicap pacing feature at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono saw an early candidate for “Pocono Pacer of the Year,” Atta Boy Dan, post his fifth straight triumph, this one on the engine in 1:49.3, a seasonal best for the Western Terror ten-year-old gelding.
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George Napolitano Jr. refused a hole “offered” by his brother Anthony behind Rock The Town and went on to the lead before the :26.2 quarter, then went on to middle splits of :54.1 and 1:21.3. In the stretch there was no real contest, as Atta Boy Dan won by two lengths over Pembroke Wildcat, who came from just behind the top two to go by Rock The Town for place. Owner/trainer Brittany Robertson enjoyed this fast mile by Atta Boy Dan, who now has eleven victories and earnings of $117,815 this year and $861,417 lifetime.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – A trio of $16,000 races for up-and-coming younger stock took the Friday afternoon spotlight at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with one division for pacing distaffs and the other two open events for trotters.

On the pace, sire Sweet Lou posted a 1-2 finish as Sweet Cherry outpaced Sweet Chrome through the lane by 1¼ lengths while taking a lifetime mark of 1:52.2. Tim Tetrick, who continued his recent hot streak here with three Friday victories to give him thirteen for the trio of cards so far this week, drove the sophomore for trainer Jim King Jr. and the ownership combine of Tim Tetrick LLC and Jo Ann Looney-King.

Tetrick also drove the faster of the two trotting headliners, with the sophomore Cantab Hall gelding Macmorris Hanover reducing his mark to 1:54.1 for trainer Bob Baggitt Jr. and the partnership of Ben Mudry,  Douglas Millard, Timothy Murray, and Howard Taylor. Macmorris Hanover made an early move past Lapped By Lindy, then maintained the advantage to the wire, finally defeating that adversary by 2 1/4 lengths. 

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Tim Tetrick Express continues to motor along at Harrah’s Philadelphia, as the ballot candidate for the Hall of Fame, coming off 16 wins at the southeast Pennsylvania oval last week and five victories here yesterday, added five more today before leaving for the State Fair card at Harrington. Tetrick won one of the two $14,500 featured trots and both divisions of a $14,000 co-featured trot.

The 37-year-old driver came from third-over with the Equinox Bi gelding Playboy Buddy Rose to wrestle the lead away from Yuge and record a neck triumph in 1:54.2 in one of the co-features. The lightly-raced eight-year-old has a better than 25% win ratio lifetime (19-for-74) for trainer Linda Lambert and owner Lloyd Lambert.

First of the feature winners to Victory Lane was the Majestic Son gelding Majestic Marvel, trained by Josh Green for Green Racing Inc. Dexter Dunn got away fourth, then was on the move late on the first turn with the winner, grabbing the lead at 3/8 and then coming home in :57 to post a 1:55 triumph,1¾ lengths ahead of pocketsitting Turn The Paige.