FRESHMEN FEATURED IN TUESDAY POCONO ACTION

Photo: Curtis Salonick

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania featured four $16,000 events for two-year-olds as its Tuesday afternoon features, one for each sex-gait combination. While these horses are coming along a little late to race in Pocono’s $1.4M Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championships for freshmen on Labor Day Monday (September 7) afternoon, they have shown the potential to climb quite high in their development, and the best state-sired performers may just be able to earn spots in the 2027 sophomore Sire Stakes finales.
 
On the pacing side, the “ladies” outsped the “gentlemen,” as the Perfect Sting – Philly Hanover filly Philly’s Sting reduced her mark to 1:53.3 for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm. Philly’s Sting took charge of the racetrack in the vicinity of the quarter, yielded to favored Ana Carolina to sit the golden two-hole trip, then rallied up the inside to defeat the chalk by three-quarters of a length.
 
Warren also had the seat behind the pacing male winner, the Papi Rob Hanover - Barefoot’npregnant gelding Barefoot Papi, who scratched in off the AE list then proceeded to break his maiden at 12-1 with a 1:54.1 success for trainer Richard Dunn, also co-owner with MBC Stables LLC. The winning tactics in this race proved to be the same as in the filly race – Barefoot Papi got to sit in the two-hole behind favored The Tile Guy, then produced an individual last quarter of :27.2 to finish a half length ahead of the crowd’s choice.
 
The favorite not only held the lead from beginning to end in the trot for males: the International Moni – CR Calendar Girl gelding Ceasarmoni Hanover extended his margin to five lengths going under the wire in 1:57, which reduced his mark. Brad Chisholm drove the Aaron Lambert trainee for owner Vince Ferriero Jr.
 
Chisholm also was in the sulky behind the freshman filly trot winner Seven Seagrams, who lowered her record over three seconds in the 1:58.4 mile which saw the first four finishers separated by a neck at the finish. The Six Pack – Seven Eleven distaff is trained by Rob Harmon for Go For Glory Stable LLC and Matthew Lamont.
 
Ridge Warren led the driving colonies with three sulky successes; joining Brad Chisholm at two triumphs were meet leader Tyler Buter, James Kennedy, Anthony Napolitano, and Jim Pantaleano. Fourteen different trainers harnessed a winner on Tuesday.
 
The big $2.3M SUN STAKES SATURDAY card will proudly be presented by Pocono this coming Saturday (the 22nd), with a special post time of 2:30 p.m. Some of the age-sex-gait divisions have not yet produced a clear leader, but Saturday’s action, bringing together many of North America’s top three-year-olds and free-for-allers on both gaits, could go a long way in at least setting up “bragging rights” at this stage of the season. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org, and of course you can watch and wager on all the top-notch action via watching and wagering at home or through the usual betting outlets.