By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​CHESTER PA – There’s an old adage that “Rainy days and drunken grooms make good race horses,” meaning that a horse left to her own natural ability will frequently have the best chance of success. This attitude was prevalent during the second preliminary of the Pennsylvania-sired program on Wednesday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, as many of the two-year-old trotting filly winners were either pointed to the top and went on to victory, or were moved first-over and went on to the triumph.
 
After four divisions of the day’s $162,948 Sire Stakes action, Sierrra’s Girl was the only two-time PaSS winner after a 1:56.2 mile for trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt and the partnership of Åke Svanstedt Inc., Young Guns, and Joe Sbrocco & JAF Racing. This daughter of Bar Hopping – Chuckys Luckycharm was one of the few winners not using the two routes described above, instead sitting third on the rail and coming up nicely along the inside in the stretch to tally.
 
Fastest winner of any baby miss succeeding in a stake was the Fordham Road – A Little Laid Back filly, who dominated her field on the lead while lowering her mark to 1:55.1. Driver Brady Brown, having an excellent year with freshman trotters in all corners of the state, sulkysat for trainer/owner/legend Roger Hammer while running her purse record to 3-for-5.
 
The other two PaSS divisions were taken by daughters of Father Patrick. The Moment (dam Myimpossibledream) grinded to a 1:56.1 maiden success for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Lucas Wallin, and owners Al Libfeld, Marvin and Lynn Katz, and San Goldband, while Paulina Hanover (dam Personal Style) was successful from the front in her purse debut in 1:57, with Andrew McCarthy driving for trainer Noel Daley and owner Mario Mazza.
 
There were seven $20,000 divisions for the Stallion Series fillies, with the only repeater in the class also being a daughter of Bar Hopping, Tequini Hanover (dam Tangent). She won in 1:57.4, a new mark, for the hot combo of driver Tim Tetrick and Lucas Wallin, with Wiesman Farms LLC and Pieter Delis sharing ownership with the trainer.
 
There were a pair of 1:56.4 maiden wins tying for fastest in the Stallion Series action: from Fannie Lipkowitz (Greenshoe – Ma Was Right), another success forthe Tetrick / Wallin connection and for owners Wallin and Sherman Stables, and from Norma Pearl (Father Patrick – Celebrity Obsesion), brought home by David Miller for trainer Ron Burke and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC, Knox Services Inc., Lawrence Karr, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby.
 
Philip Scott Sonsteby, a 26-year-old native of Norway, trained his first North American winner when he sent out the Bar Hopping – Miss Aultsville filly Chimebelle to a 1:58.3 victory in her first purse outing. She was driven by Andrew McCarthy for J. Mark Egloff Jr., Max J. Hempt, Philip Scott Racing Stable, and Thomas Biederman.
 
Nifty Norman trained the other three PaStS winners, two of them driven by Dexter Dunn: the Father Patrick – Beehive filly Magic Bee, who broke her maiden in 1:57.1 for owners David Mc Duffee and Herb Liverman, and the International Moni – Behold The Dream miss Belle Meade, a maiden no more after a 1:58.4 win for Paul Sunderhaus, Carter Duer, Triple Play Trotters LLC, and Enzed Racing Stable Inc. David Miller handled the other “Nifty” winner, the Bar Hopping – Snow Angel Hanover filly Sambuca Hanover, who won her purse debut in 1:58.4 for David Mc Duffee, Paul Bordogna, and Melvin Hartman.

Racing will continue on Thursday at 12:25, with a $1453.17 carryover into the Pick-5 on races five through nine; Friday’s 12:25 card will have handicap paces for fast-class horses of both sexes; and Sunday’s card will be topped by an Open handicap trot. Program pages for all races at Harrah’s Philadelphia are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The chalk emerged victorious in the twin $16,000 featured paces at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon, with Joemikiyoursofine triumphing in the division for males and Proud Mary the winner in the group of females. 
 
The three-year-old Always B Miki gelding Joemikiyoursofine certainly earned his victory, as he spotted fourth late on the first turn for driver George Napolitano Jr., then came out without cover down the backstretch to contend for command. Joemikiyoursofine and pocketsitting Lousain Bolt, using the Pocono Pike, were the main contenders approaching the wire, with “Joemiki” emerging a half a length to the good in 1:51.4. Chris Choate trains the winner for Anthony Ruggeri and Richard Tosies.
 
Proud Mark posted her second straight win despite coming off a “sick” scratch, coming home first in 1:52.2. Matt Kakaley moved the sophomore Sweet Lou filly to the lead in front of the stands and maintained control to the wire, with My Hungry Girl shooting up the inside but coming up three quarters of a length short. Chris Ryder trains the winner, third in her PA Sire Stakes Championship last year, for Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Bottom Line Racing LLC. 
 
There was a double carryover going into Tuesday’s Pick-5 on races eight through twelve, and despite that fact, four of the eight entrants in the final race would have caused yet another carryover had they won. Favored Keystone Apache came through in the last leg, though, but lucky ticketholders still received a healthy $1202.48 payoff on the basic-price 20-cent ticket.
 
Racing returns to the mountain oval on Saturday at 1 p.m. During Sunday’s 6 p.m. card, there will be two $35,000 Pennsylvania All-Stars events for two-year-old filly pacers; among the entrants is Lyons Legend, already a double Sire Stakes winner and undefeated in three career starts. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.      

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
BEDFORD PA – Fairgrounds are noted for their exciting rollercoaster rides, and the 11-race meet held at the fairgrounds in this southwest Pennsylvania town on Sunday and Monday, conducted as a “2-Day Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes meet” per state statute, had more ups and downs than the thrill machines located at any other place of grand amusement.
 
The two-year-olds were out for eight races on Sunday, an “A” Fair Sire Stakes for each division and then a “B” section. The four “A” events went first, and each produced a season’s record for the Pennsylvania twicearounds: colt pacer Turn N Dance (A Rocknroll Dance – Turn Her Ingo) in 2:00.4, filly trotter Ciao Time (Possess The Will - Ciao Dough) lowering her own mark to 2:07.2, pacing filly Always Sassy (Always B Miki – Soulmate Hanover) in 2:03.4, and trotting colt Blame It On Texas (Southwind Frank – Sweet Possession) in 2:04.2.
 
Then the “B” races were held … and two newly-minted season’s records were broken, and another tied, by the lower-graded horses. The mile that made everybody stand up was the 1:59.3 race turned in by the pacing filly Adroit Hanover (Betting Line – Asada Hanover), which was the first 2:00 mile of the fair season by a baby and also a divisional track record for Bedford, eclipsing the 2014 mark of 2:00 set by Keystone I Win. Aaron Johnston drove the new recordholder for trainer Susan Callihan, co-owner with Gregory Callihan and Nicole Buchleitner.
 
In other “B” races, trotting filly Whiskey’d My Way (Bar Hopping – Lady Ping) lowered the PA fair season’s record to 2:06.2, and trotting colt RT Outlaw (Fordham Road – Order By Meryl) equaled the 2023 standard of 2:04.2.
 
Then came Monday and three-year-old racing, with the "A" trotters leading off. The co-owners of the legendary Vivid Photo, Todd Schadel and Roger Hammer, each had a winner, Todd with the International Moni filly Quarantina in 2:01, and Roger posting the same time with the Fordham Road colt Battin A Thousand.
 
The race in between these two was the contest where the action shifted from the rollercoaster to the House Of Mirrors, where you can’t believe what you first see. What was first seen was the trotting filly Smooth As Silk crossing the wire first in 1:58.4, which would have been the fastest mile ever trotted at the Bedford oval by far, the standard being the 2:00.2 of OMG Hanover in 2016.
 
But there was an inquiry, and Smooth As Silk was placed down from first to second, with the elevation of the Bar Hopping miss Keystone Sweetpea (Todd Schadel) to the top position. Because the race was uncharted, the official win time of the contest per the rules was “T.Dis.” – and thus no track record.
 
And then, after Battin A Thousand’s race, the rains came and washed out the rest of the card. And there the rollercoaster halted (temporarily, as we shall soon see).
 
Roger Hammer and Mike Wilder each won three races to lead in the abbreviated meet; Roger trains all three of the winners he drove to sit atop the conditioners category.
 
Long-suffering but indomitable Jake Hoover, head of the racing program at Bedford, will be right back in the box, though. The Fair portion of the Bedford presentation is slotted for this Thursday and Friday, both days with a 3:00 start, and Hoover along with everybody else will hope for a less bumpy ride and fast racing.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Optrix became the first horse to pay over $50 to win twice at the 2023 meet at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, making a strong backstretch move to the lead and going on for a new lifetime mark of 1:55.1.
 
Jim Pantaleano drove the sophomore Trixton gelding to the upset for trainer Tom Jackson, also co-owner with Howard Taylor and Jenna Corneilson. It was Jackson who had earlier guided Optrix to a $104.60 payoff, second-highest of the meet, and the three-year-old’s win today allowed Jackson to tie for the trainers colony lead with two such bombers to his credit.
 
In a $12,500 trotting co-feature for older performers, Papi Hanover used similar tactics to Optrix’s winning move, making a big brush down the backstretch to the lead and then defeating his field in 1:56.2. The Explosive Matter gelding was driven by Ridge Warren for trainer Karen Fread, also the co-owner with Randy and Michael Toth and James Mims Jr.
 
In the race between the two features, also a trot, 40-year-old Anibal Borjas, a native of Guatemala, gave himself a day he’ll never forget, as after 46 qualifying drives he made his pari-mutuel debut and promptly rallied out of the pocket with the Stay Hungry sophomore filly Mint Julep Hanover to put a maiden mark of 1:55.3 on her. Trainer Tony Alagna gave the opportunity to drive for Borjas, and he quickly repaid Alagna’s confidence and that of owners Brad Grant, Jablonsky Held Stable, and Alagna Racing LLC.
 
The racing week concludes on Tuesday at Pocono Downs, with the card starting at 1 p.m; there is a very tasty $4449.82 carryover into Tuesday’s Pick-5 wager in races eight through twelve. 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 – Both Lyons Legend and Geocentric notched their second straight Pennsylvania Sire Stakes wins among the four divisions of the $168,864 second prelim PaSS event for two-year-old fillies, and both the repeaters at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania Sunday were guided by the Driver Of The Weekend, Tim Tetrick.
 
Surprisingly, neither of these two winners took a lifetime mark, as they had gone faster in afternoon Sires action at The Meadows. Lyons Legend will get top billing here because she was the faster of the two this night at 1:52.4, and because she is now perfect in three purse stats. The daughter of Stay Hungry – Skinny Dip let the dust settle to the :28.1 quarter, moved and took over the top at the :57.2 midway point, maintained control past a 1:25.3 three-quarters, then came home in 27.1 for trainer Jim King Jr. and Threelyonsracing.
 
Geocentric, a daughter of Sweet Lou – Geometry, was looped early and got command by the :28.3 quarter, got a breather to the half in :58.2, then stepped up the pace so that the timer read 1:26.3 at the three-quarters and 1:53.1 at the wire – her own back fractions in :54.4 - :26.3. Geocentric has now won both of her starts for trainer Brian Brown and the partnership of Milton Leeman, Alan Keith, James Stambaugh, and Joe Sbrocco.
 
Tying Lyons Legend at 1:52.4 for fastest Sires mile of the night was the Captaintreacherous – Eloquent Grace freshman Caviart Belle, who took the top early for Yannick Gingras and posted fractions of :28.2, :57.2, and 1:26, sprinting home in :26.4 for a lifetime mark. Second in a Kindergarten event in her only other purse start, Caviart Belle is trained by Nancy Takter for Caviart Farms.
 
Crashing the Sire Stakes winners circle party as the longest (38-1) shot in her division, Canigetalouploup lowered her mark to 1:54.3 in her second purse victory. David Miller worked out a good inside trip with the daughter of Sweet Lou (a PaSS double) – Continual Velocity behind fractions of :28.2, :58.3, and 1:27, then kicked home sharply into the :27.3 last quarter to post the upset for people not normally associated with equine outsiders – driver David Miller, trainer Ron Burke, and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Lawrence Karr, and Phil Collura.
 
All four of the Sire Stakes were won by 1½ lengths or more; four of the five $20,000 companion Stallion Series divisions were decided by a neck. The fastest StS winner was the only one to have had a purse start before Sunday, the Stay Hungry – Dance Until Dawn miss Stayinforthedance. She was also an upsetter, being dismissed at 22-1 yet winning in 1:54.1 for driver Matt Kakaley and trainer Joseph Lucas, co-owner with At The Wire Farms.
 
Andrew McCarthy drove two of the successful Stallion Series fillies: the Sweet Lou – Caviart Sarah distaff Caviart Sophie, a 1:55.2 winner for trainer Tony Alagna and Caviart Farms, and Bares All, a daughter of Heston Blue Chip – Skinny Dipper (not Skinny Dip, who is Lyons Legend’s dam) whose 1:55.4 victory for trainer Robert Cleary and Let It Ride Stables Inc. was accomplished by the “luxurious” margin of a half length.
 
Capatintreacherous is the sire of Shebebakin Hanover (out of the great mare Shebestingin), who won her StS section in 1:55.1 for driver Dexter Dunn, trainer Nifty Norman, and Pinske Stables, Yankeeland Partners LLP, and David J. Miller. And a son of “The Captain,” first-crop sire Captain Crunch, got the other production credit in the PaStS with Duffy’s Opinion (dam Strong Opinion), home first in 1:54.4 for driver Todd McCarthy, trainer Brett Pelling, and owner David Mc Duffee.
 
The racing week at Pocono will continue with cards on Monday and Tuesday at 1 p.m, with a Pick-5 carryover of $1702.15 carryover into Monday’s Pick-5 bet on races eight through twelve. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.                

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Take All Comers reversed the decision of the last Open trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia, sitting in the pocket behind his previous conqueror Lexus Kody and then catching that one up the inside to win Sunday afternoon’s $20,000 Open handicap trot in 1:53.3 over a sloppy “+2” track.
Take All Comers and Lexus Kody were assigned the outer two posts in the feature field, and once again Lexus Kody stepped around his rival before the quarter, setting fractions of :27.1, :57, and 1:25.3. However, the Creatine gelding Take All Comers had missed a turn before his last start – here, after taking one fumbly step entering the passing lane, he accelerated powerfully to pick up the pacesetter by a half-length, which was the margin of his last defeat.
 
Tim Tetrick, fresh off a monster Meadowlands Pace Night, guided Take All Comers, a winner of $589,171, for trainer Jim Campbell and owners Runthetable Stables.
Tetrick and Campbell came back to capture the very next race, also a trot, and in an even faster clocking, 1:53, over the off going. The Walner mare Fashion Schooner overcame the outermost draw in winning the Hambletonian Oaks last year, and she overcame the far outside against this less-difficult field, with fractions of :28.1, :56.3, and 1:24.4 leading to a final clocking of 1:53 as Fashion Schooner won by 5¼ lengths. Fashion Farms LLC owns the winner, who improved her lifetime earnings to $742,252.
Top contest for pacers was a $16,200 fast-class affair, with RIP Wheeler three-wide at two different points of the early action (:28) before getting the lead in front of the stands and putting up midfractions of :56.1 and 1:23.4. They were across the track pursuing him in the stretch, but the Rockin Image gelding stood firm to traverse the sloppy course in 1:51.2, defeating pocketsitting Captain Crusader A by a length for driver Corey Callahan, trainer Hunter Oakes, and owners Thaddeus Weir, Donald Mac Rae, and Stephen Klunowski.
If you like watching two-year-old filly trotters, they’ll be coming at you eleven fields strong at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday at 12:25: four divisions of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes misses, and seven sections of Pennsylvania Stallion Series freshmen. There will also be a carryover of $1917.94 into the third race Hi-5 wager. Program pages for all races at Harrah’s Philadelphia are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.     

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Captaintreacherous colt Ken Hanover, away from the races since rocketing home in :25 to be second to Christchurch in a Meadowlands Pace prep, showed no ill effects from the time away, setting a soft pace then turning up the speed to win in 1:51.3 in the $17,000 featured pace at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon.
 
David Miller paid a visit to Pocono to guide Ken Hanover, and he patiently guided the sophomore past Night Hawk, defending the rail, just at the :28 quarter, and such was the respect the winning favorite commanded that he got away with soft midrace fractions of :57 and 1:25.1. Miller asked his colt for speed through the last quarter, and Ken Hanover responded by bulleting home in :26.2 (against a day-long stretch headwind), with the game Night Hawk staying with him to miss by 1¼ lengths, with the rest of the field never factoring.
 
Ken Hanover, who has two PA Sire Stakes wins and a PA All-Stars victory among his five triumphs this season, is trained by Polie Mallar, co-owner with Patrick Leavitt, William Jordan, and Dennis Osterholt, and looks ready to give the “glamour division”’s top colts another crack in the near future.
 
In the $17,000 featured trot, Balenciaga was also quite impressive with a 1:52.1 win. Matt Kakaley tucked early as sharp fractions of :26.4 and :56 were posted, then moved the Chapter Seven gelding uncovered, gradually worked to the lead past the 1:24.1 three-quarters, and just kept pouring it on to win by 10½ lengths. Paul Kelley trains the talented trotter for S R F Stable and Crawford Farms Racing.
 
Matt Kakaley had four winners on the Saturday card; Tyler Buter and Anthony Napolitano three; Simon Allard and “Miller” two (one each for David and Marcus). 
 
The two-year-old pacing fillies will dominate the 6 p.m. card at Pocono on Sunday, with four Sire Stakes divisions and five Stallion Series sections likely showcasing many emerging top performers. Program pages for all Pocono races are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.                   

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Drivers Yannick Gingras and Tim Tetrick took down all of the big money as the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series two-year-old males raced their first preliminary leg on another hot afternoon Friday at Harrah’s Philadelphia. There were four $40,540 divisions for Sire Stakes competitors, and five $20,000 sections for the complementary Stallion Series, and all races saw the winner generate a new lifetime mark.
 
Tetrick had the two fastest Sire Stakes winners. The quicker was the Father Patrick - Thatisnotmyname colt Security Protected, who fronted his field throughout in 1:56, coming the last quarter in :28.1 and needing every bit of that to resist pocketsitter Memorynimagination by a half-length in the closest PaSS cut. The Marcus Melander trainee, a fast-closing second in his only other purse start, is owned by partnership of Howard Taylor, Brad Grant, and Order By Stable AB. 
 
The Greenshoe – Cooler Schooner gelding Smart Schooner is perfect after two career starts, coming his own last quarter in :27.4 after rallying from sixth at the three-quarter pole to win in 1:56.3 for Tetrick. Jim Campbell trains the smart youngster for Fashion Farms LLC.
 
Gingras kicked off the day’s Sire Stakes action with another Father Patrick colt, Crown Monarch (dam Muscle Babe), who muscled home in :57.1 to complete a 1:57.2 mile, adding a Sire Stakes victory to his win in PA All-Stars competition at Pocono. Per Engblom trains the fast-developing freshman for Engblom Stable LLC, Amos Lengacher, and Tomas Andersson. 
 
The Gingras - Ron Burke pairing, with countless victorious teamings in their pasts, added another success story in the Cantab Hall – Nicole’s Promise colt T C I, who followed up on a second in the Kindergarten in his betting bow with a 1:57.3 victory as a convincing pocket rocket. The Burke trainee is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Hatfield Stables, and Knox Services Inc.
 
Tetrick also drove the fastest Stallion Series winner, the Bar Hopping – Broadway Jo Ell gelding Executive Game, who won in 1:57.1 for trainer Jim Campbell and Runthetable Stables. Bar Hopping got another Stallion Series credit from the strong-closing Usain Hanover (dam Up Front Hotsey), a 1:59.1 winner for Enzed Racing Stable Inc in his pari-mutuel bow.
 
Usain Hanover had the backing of driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Nifty Norman, who also teamed with another first-time purse starter in Casanova Hall, a Greenshoe gelding out of Caterina Hall who was successful in 2:00.2 for owner David Mc Duffee.
 
The other two Stallion Series winners were piloted by Scott Zeron:  a second credit for Greenshoe in the colt Dominion Day (dam Dancing For Money), a 1:58 winner for trainer Linda Toscano and owners The Bay’s Stable LLC, R-And-I Farms LLC, Dreamville Stable, and Camelot Stable Inc., and the International Moni – Queendom gelding Viktory Blue Chip in 1:58.4 for trainer Tim Twaddle and Thestable Viktorybluechip.
 
The focus continues on trotters the next couple of cards at Philly: Sunday’s card, starting at 12:40, will feature a $20,000 Open handicap trot, while next Wednesday’s 12:25 program will find the state-sired two-year-old trotting fillies coming to town. Program pages for all races at Harrah’s Philadelphia are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.