Photo: Curtis Salonick
By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
WILKES-BARRE PA – On a speed-favoring Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania (only one horse came off cover to win all day), the Always B Miki – Gigi From Fiji freshman filly Gigi N Miki went wire-to-wire in the biggest purse event of the day, a $16,000 event restricted to two-year-old pacing misses, kicking home in :28 to break her maiden in 1:55.1.
Driver Jim Pantaleano and the Michael Deters trainee made a second move to control the throttle after a :29 quarter, landing the top and cutting out moderate midsplits of :58 and 1:27.1. Favored Philly’s Sting advanced uncovered from midbackstretch, and these two had quite a tussle through the stretch drive, with Gigi N Miki holding off her brave foe by the smallest possible margin for the ownership of trainer Deters, Lawrence Barrett, Joel Warner, and John Spindler.
A quartet of $14,500 races for horses looking to climb the classladder were the co-features, with the only pace, for distaffs, showcasing the Bulldog Hanover sophomore filly She’s A Bulldog as she won in a lifetime best 1:50.1 for Pocono’s top duo of driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ron Burke. The 2025 Three Diamonds winner after finishing second to stablemate Loua Dipa in the Breeders Crown, She’s a Bulldog made the lead from the outside post eight after being pushed by American Story almost to the :27.1 quarter, stopped the timer midrace in :55 and 1:22.4, then held off the game pocketsitter by 1¼ lengths for owner Brad Grant, raising her earnings to $427,679 with her third lifetime victory.
The faster co-feature for trotting males saw the Tactical Landing three-year-old gelding Southwind Fargo win his second straight and third in his last four outings, putting up fractions of :27.4, :56, and 1:25 en route to a 1:53 triumph. Åke Svanstedt drove and trains the talented winner for Rivers Stable Inc. In the other section, El Orion, a Six Pack sophomore colt coming off two wins and a second at Tioga, brought his good form southward with him, winning a long stretch battle with favored Breakthrough under the guidance of Braxten Boyd while lowering his mark to 1:56.3 for trainer Bob Krivelin and his Hero Stables.
The other co-feature was carded for trotting females, and it went to the Walner three-year-old filly R Candy, who came her back half in :57 uncovered to succeed in 1:54.3 for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Linda Toscano, and lessees M&L DE / Armitage Farm.
Buter and “George Nap” each had three victories on the day and between them they brought home trainer Dean Eckley’s three-bagger – two by Buter and one by Napolitano. Other doublers included the team of driver Simon Allard and trainer Mark Akins; drivers Braxten Boyd and Anthony Napolitano also each tasted success twice.
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday at 1 p.m., with millionaire speedsters Dandy Ideal and Ruthless Hanover assigned the two outermost starting slots in the $29,500 fast-class handicap pacing feature. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
WILKES-BARRE PA – On a speed-favoring Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania (only one horse came off cover to win all day), the Always B Miki – Gigi From Fiji freshman filly Gigi N Miki went wire-to-wire in the biggest purse event of the day, a $16,000 event restricted to two-year-old pacing misses, kicking home in :28 to break her maiden in 1:55.1.
Driver Jim Pantaleano and the Michael Deters trainee made a second move to control the throttle after a :29 quarter, landing the top and cutting out moderate midsplits of :58 and 1:27.1. Favored Philly’s Sting advanced uncovered from midbackstretch, and these two had quite a tussle through the stretch drive, with Gigi N Miki holding off her brave foe by the smallest possible margin for the ownership of trainer Deters, Lawrence Barrett, Joel Warner, and John Spindler.
A quartet of $14,500 races for horses looking to climb the classladder were the co-features, with the only pace, for distaffs, showcasing the Bulldog Hanover sophomore filly She’s A Bulldog as she won in a lifetime best 1:50.1 for Pocono’s top duo of driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ron Burke. The 2025 Three Diamonds winner after finishing second to stablemate Loua Dipa in the Breeders Crown, She’s a Bulldog made the lead from the outside post eight after being pushed by American Story almost to the :27.1 quarter, stopped the timer midrace in :55 and 1:22.4, then held off the game pocketsitter by 1¼ lengths for owner Brad Grant, raising her earnings to $427,679 with her third lifetime victory.
The faster co-feature for trotting males saw the Tactical Landing three-year-old gelding Southwind Fargo win his second straight and third in his last four outings, putting up fractions of :27.4, :56, and 1:25 en route to a 1:53 triumph. Åke Svanstedt drove and trains the talented winner for Rivers Stable Inc. In the other section, El Orion, a Six Pack sophomore colt coming off two wins and a second at Tioga, brought his good form southward with him, winning a long stretch battle with favored Breakthrough under the guidance of Braxten Boyd while lowering his mark to 1:56.3 for trainer Bob Krivelin and his Hero Stables.
The other co-feature was carded for trotting females, and it went to the Walner three-year-old filly R Candy, who came her back half in :57 uncovered to succeed in 1:54.3 for driver George Napolitano Jr., trainer Linda Toscano, and lessees M&L DE / Armitage Farm.
Buter and “George Nap” each had three victories on the day and between them they brought home trainer Dean Eckley’s three-bagger – two by Buter and one by Napolitano. Other doublers included the team of driver Simon Allard and trainer Mark Akins; drivers Braxten Boyd and Anthony Napolitano also each tasted success twice.
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday at 1 p.m., with millionaire speedsters Dandy Ideal and Ruthless Hanover assigned the two outermost starting slots in the $29,500 fast-class handicap pacing feature. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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