Image: Curtis Salonick
By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
WILKES-BARRE PA – Beneficiary of a nifty piece of driving from Tyler Buter, the So Surreal gelding Lanjo Lee is now 6-for-6 in 2022 and swept the Bobby Weiss Series for sophomore pacing colts by taking the $50,000 Championship in a lifetime best 1:50.3 on Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Greg The Leg left best of all from post six, looping Letmecallyouback (post four), who took back. All Or Nothing (post seven) was out three-wide early, and Buter (who was leading driver on the day with four wins) kept him out wide by deftly slipping with Lanjo Lee to two-wide position from post two at the eighth pole. Lanjo Lee, 7-5 to favored All Or Nothing’s 3-5, made the front near the :26.4 quarter, then yielded to the chalk, who went to the half in :55 then met a strong first-over bid from Shake It to a 1:23.1 three-quarters.
WILKES-BARRE PA – Beneficiary of a nifty piece of driving from Tyler Buter, the So Surreal gelding Lanjo Lee is now 6-for-6 in 2022 and swept the Bobby Weiss Series for sophomore pacing colts by taking the $50,000 Championship in a lifetime best 1:50.3 on Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Greg The Leg left best of all from post six, looping Letmecallyouback (post four), who took back. All Or Nothing (post seven) was out three-wide early, and Buter (who was leading driver on the day with four wins) kept him out wide by deftly slipping with Lanjo Lee to two-wide position from post two at the eighth pole. Lanjo Lee, 7-5 to favored All Or Nothing’s 3-5, made the front near the :26.4 quarter, then yielded to the chalk, who went to the half in :55 then met a strong first-over bid from Shake It to a 1:23.1 three-quarters.
The grueling trip took some effect on All Or Nothing, who lost for the first time in four career starts, but he still did himself proud in the lane, giving resistance to the pocketpopping Lanjo Lee, who won by a length. Jeff Sorenson trains the impressive three-year-old winner for owner Gordon Lee Swift, and it will be interesting to see if he can now match up with some of the better horses in his classification.
In the $20,000 Weiss Consolation, the Roll With Joe gelding Roll With The Flow continued the hot form streak of trainer Jessica Fallon by taking a new mark of 1:53. Braxten Boyd had the sophomore on the move to take the lead in front of the stands and was in firm control in the latter stages, coming home in :28 while defeating Kingsville by 1½ lengths for Hutt Racing Stable, Middlebrook Racing LP, and Blake MacIntosh.
There were also a pair of $25,000 fast-class events, one on each gait. On the trot, the Deweycheatumnhowe gelding Dewey Arnold ripped off his fifth straight victory and lowered his mark to 1:52.2, fastest mile of the local year on this gait, under the guidance of Jason Bartlett. The winner of 19 of 37 starts lifetime left well, yielded to sit in the pocket behind Angel Nation and fractions of :27.1, :55.3, and 1:24.1, then moved out in the lane to go by the leader by three-quarters of a length while raising his lifetime earnings to $312,445 for trainer David Dewhurst, who is also co-owner with Philip Hale.
The fastest pacing mile of the year came in the other fast-class feature, and also was produced by driver Jason Bartlett, with the Somebeachsomewhere gelding Nicholas Beach now a winner of 18 of 33 lifetime and $385,246 after a 1:49.3 victory. Nicholas Beach, off 26 days and adding Lasix, had the top in a flash and posted splits of :27.1, :55.2, and 1:22.3, then held off the buzzsaw late charge of American Courage, in his first start since his Jug elimination, by a half-length. Jennifer Bongiorno is the trainer, and her Jennifer Bongiorno Stable LLC co-owns the talented pacer with John Lengacher and Michael Cote Gagnon.
The Western Ideal gelding Go West Go Fast tied the Pocono track record for most expensive claim after he was haltered for $40,000 after winning his fifth straight race, here in 1:50.4.
Sunday’s 5 p.m. card at Pocono will feature a $17,000 distaff pacing feature and a $16,500 co-feature handicap pace for the top claimers on the grounds. Pocono will also be racing on Monday and Tuesday at 1:30 as the track has swung into its regular four-day-a-week schedule. Program pages are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.
In the $20,000 Weiss Consolation, the Roll With Joe gelding Roll With The Flow continued the hot form streak of trainer Jessica Fallon by taking a new mark of 1:53. Braxten Boyd had the sophomore on the move to take the lead in front of the stands and was in firm control in the latter stages, coming home in :28 while defeating Kingsville by 1½ lengths for Hutt Racing Stable, Middlebrook Racing LP, and Blake MacIntosh.
There were also a pair of $25,000 fast-class events, one on each gait. On the trot, the Deweycheatumnhowe gelding Dewey Arnold ripped off his fifth straight victory and lowered his mark to 1:52.2, fastest mile of the local year on this gait, under the guidance of Jason Bartlett. The winner of 19 of 37 starts lifetime left well, yielded to sit in the pocket behind Angel Nation and fractions of :27.1, :55.3, and 1:24.1, then moved out in the lane to go by the leader by three-quarters of a length while raising his lifetime earnings to $312,445 for trainer David Dewhurst, who is also co-owner with Philip Hale.
The fastest pacing mile of the year came in the other fast-class feature, and also was produced by driver Jason Bartlett, with the Somebeachsomewhere gelding Nicholas Beach now a winner of 18 of 33 lifetime and $385,246 after a 1:49.3 victory. Nicholas Beach, off 26 days and adding Lasix, had the top in a flash and posted splits of :27.1, :55.2, and 1:22.3, then held off the buzzsaw late charge of American Courage, in his first start since his Jug elimination, by a half-length. Jennifer Bongiorno is the trainer, and her Jennifer Bongiorno Stable LLC co-owns the talented pacer with John Lengacher and Michael Cote Gagnon.
The Western Ideal gelding Go West Go Fast tied the Pocono track record for most expensive claim after he was haltered for $40,000 after winning his fifth straight race, here in 1:50.4.
Sunday’s 5 p.m. card at Pocono will feature a $17,000 distaff pacing feature and a $16,500 co-feature handicap pace for the top claimers on the grounds. Pocono will also be racing on Monday and Tuesday at 1:30 as the track has swung into its regular four-day-a-week schedule. Program pages are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.
RSS Feed
