WILKES-BARRE PA – Atta Boy Dan, the 2019 Horse of the Year at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, added another chapter to his already-burnished historical record when he went over a million dollars in lifetime earnings with a Monday afternoon victory at the mountain oval.
George Napolitano Jr., his companion in so many victories last season, got the eleven-year-old Western Terror gelding into fourth early, then moved first-over against pacesetter Nine Ways. The pacesetter didn’t make it easy for the greybeard, but Atta Boy Dan showed his class by going on to a 1¼ length victory over that foe in 1:51.3 for owner Stephen Larkin and trainer Pete Pellegrino.
The victory boosted the lifetime earnings of Atta Boy Dan to $1,002,084; he now has 76 career victories in 214 trips to the gate. The winningest U.S. harness horse in 2019 with 19 victories, Atta Boy Dan also set an unofficial record by being claimed out of fourteen straight starts, and 17 times in total at the Pocono meet last year, for a total of $670,000. Larkin and Pellegrino were the last of the claimants, and they have seen their horse win over $44,000 already this year despite the limited opportunities.
George Napolitano Jr. finished with five winners on the card, including two each for trainers Pete Pellegrino and Tom Cancelliere.