By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Three $17,000 feature races for up-and-coming horses climbing the class ladder were held at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Tuesday afternoon, with the winners Cigar Smoking Tony (male pace), Think Of Galaxies (female pace), and Ghostintheshell S (trot).
 
Cigar Smoking Tony was used hard past the quarter to get the lead, then let favored Red Power go to the lead under the wire the first time. He stayed in the two-hole until the stretch, used the Pocono Pike to go to command midstretch, then had to resist a late bid by Mikibytheseaside to his left, doing so by a nose in 1:50.4 over a “good” track that actually never appeared far away from peak speed. Marcus Miller drove the 11-1 Art Major gelding to a new lifetime mark for trainer Jose Godinez and owners Joseph Betro, Ian Behar, and Kristie Leigh Farm Inc.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
HARRISBURG PA – Horses racing on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit in its Fair Sire Stakes program do so for three reasons. Two of them are obvious: to earn the purse money offered at each stop, and to try to accumulate enough points to earn their way into their respective $25,000 Fair Championships, which will be held on a 4 p.m. card at The Meadows on Friday, October 8.
 
Then there’s a third reason, minor but prestigious on the circuit: the top point earner in each division earns a trophy blanket, “done up” in the colors of the stable, at the fair awards dinner. These blankets are often seen for years on horses racing for a stable at the fairs.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA –The Somebeachsomewhere sophomore colt Kauai King (no relation to the 1966 Kentucky Derby winner) had to dodge an early breaker and then worked hard to get the lead from his outside post, but once on top would not be supplanted in winning the $13,000 featured pace in 1:54.1 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Tuesday afternoon.
 
After an adventure-filled :28.1 opener which saw him land third, Kauai King and driver Anthony Napolitano decided to take over the lead, and did so with a minimum of fuss well before the :58 half. From there the winner sprinted home in :56.1 to leave Send It In Jerome 1½ lengths behind as he was victorious for trainer Mark Ford and All Star Racing Inc.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​WILKES-BARRE PA – George Napolitano Jr., the perennial leading driver at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and second in the standings at Harrah’s Philadelphia, drove most of the Sunday afternoon card at Philly, winning two races, but since the Philly races were slightly behind schedule, “George Nap” didn’t see sulky action at The Downs until the seventh race during the twilight card at Pocono. But he quickly made up for lost time, winning the first three races in which he competed, including the $12,500 fast-class distaff pace with Tall Poppy N in 1:52.
 
Napolitano got away third with the Kiwi daughter of Mach Three as Stowaway Hanover bulleted away in :26.1, with Abigail Dawn (favored in the win pool by just $5 over Tall Poppy N) sat the pocket as the leader hit the half in :55.2. Tall Poppy N was moved out of third to challenge and got to the lead just past the 1:23.1 three-quarters, opening up enough distance on Abigail Dawn so that her comeback effort could only net her second. Now a winner of $102,699, Tall Poppy N is trained by the meet’s top trainer, Gilbert Garcia-Herrera, who also owns her with Barbara Arnstine.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
BLOOMSBURG PA – The final stop of the 2021 Pennsylvania Fair circuit, at the Bloomsburg Fair in this northeast Pennsylvania town, had an all-too familiar theme on opening day Friday – the two-year-old racing was washed out. But then the three-year-olds got to go on Saturday, and three of them achieved their tenth victories, most on the circuit.
 
(We note here that early next week that there will be a release listing the trophy blanketwinners for being top pointwinners in their divisions, after figures are checked with the Harness Bureau of the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, the final authority on tallies, so no mention of blanketwinners will appear in this summary of the Bloomsburg racing.)

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Rockin Image four-year-old gelding The Candyman Can was claimed for $50,000, a record at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, out of one the two $18,000 featured claiming handicap pacing events on Saturday afternoon, and he said goodbye to his old connections with a gritty victory in 1:51.
 
Braxten Boyd and The Candyman Can left from the outside post six, with Curious Cortez (winner of three of his last four at this level) firing away hard just to his left and Regal Son also out quickly to protect position from the rail. This left “The Candyman” in no man’s land, and after a :26.3 opener Boyd opted to press on and guide the pacer to the lead just before a :54.2 half. Regal Son came up to press the leader by the 1:22 three-quarters, and others were a late concern after the fast fractions, but The Candyman Can was game and held for a neck triumph over the first-up horse.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Liberty Bell stakes series got off to a fine and fast start on Friday at Harrah’s Philadelphia, as the Bar Hopping – Peace Dove colt Parola Hanover equaled the track record for two-year-old colt trotters of 1:55 while winning strongly on the engine. 
 
Corey Callahan left the early traffic sort itself out, then moved his colt to the lead nearing the 28.1 quarter, clearing to the top and then getting a breather to a :57.4 half. There were no breathers from that point, as the winner tacked on a pair of :28.3 back quarters to defeat first-over Andoverthewinnings by 2½ lengths while matching the local standard first set by Rome Pays Off in 2019 and then equaled by Captain Corey last year.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono announces that there has been a change in the racing schedule and in the draw schedule for October, the last month of the 2021 season at the northeast Pennsylvania track. 
Pocono will be racing on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday at 12:30 during the month of October, with closing day scheduled for Saturday, October 30. There will be no Sunday racing at Pocono in October; the last Sunday card of the year at the mountain track will take place this Sunday, September 26, at 5 p.m. 
Horsemen should take note that there is a change in the draw schedule and scratch times/driver changes in October:

Saturday cards will be drawn on Monday, and cleared at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Monday cards will be drawn on Tuesday, and cleared at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Tuesday cards will be drawn on Wednesday, and cleared at 10 a.m. Thursday.

This schedule will begin with the next draw, which will be on Monday, September 27 for racing on Saturday, October 2.

Further information can be obtained from Pocono Director of Racing Rick Kane at 570-831-2224

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Sportswriter pacer Rhett Seelster and the Explosive Matter trotting mare Perth Angel De Vie both came from out of the pocket to win their gait’s respective $17,000 features on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
Rhett Seelster had an unusual journey – bothered by a roughgaited horse enough to get an “i” before the quarter, then out first-over at the half -- but he was able to get into the two-hole behind Red Power on the far turn when the previous pocket horse backed up. Anthony Napolitano and his horse got a small breather, then came out again and caught Red Power (driven by Anthony’s brother George, who won four races on the day) by a nose while reducing the pacer’s record to 1:50.4. Antonia Storer handles the training of the winner for owner Daniel Maier.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
GRATZ PA – 2021 season’s records were recorded in six of the eight categories (including all two-year-old divisions) in the Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes during a Sunday-Monday meet at the Gratz Fairgrounds, with the three-year-old trotting filly Cheesy Hanover also rewriting the local standard for her age, sex, and gait on Monday by winning in 1:59.4, beating by a tick the previous record shared by Heirodynamic (2007) and Petiti (2008).
 
The Cantab Hall filly Cheesy Hanover won her ninth straight race on the fair circuit, which also ties her for most PA fair wins this year (no horse has achieved ten; her Todd Schadel colt counterpart Top Me Off also has nine, as does a horse we’ll write about two paragraphs below). Trainer Schadel, who co-owns the filly with wife Christine, has given the filly to his 19-year-old son Cody to drive in most of her starts, and the results speak for themselves.