Photo: Curtis Salonick
By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
WILKES-BARRE PA – What in the name of Rod’s Faybill has been going on this past week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania?
In the third race at Scarborough Downs (ME) on Tuesday, June 23, 1981, a trotter named Rod’s Faybill, starting from post eight, attracted a solitary $2 win wager. Rod’s Faybill was far back most of the mile, but he took advantage of a mixup on the far turn and won (by 15 lengths!), returning a win payoff of $1365.80 – according to the Internet, still the largest in harness racing history. (That single ducat was held by a vacationer from Virginia.)
In the sixth race at Pocono on Tuesday, a trotter named Bijou Blue Chip made her career debut from post eight, and she was dismissed at 92-1, the longest odds in the race. Bijou Blue Chip was in the second half of her field most of the race, but then was able to mount a winning rally in her bow.
Bijou Blue Chip’s win payoff was $186.40, the highest recorded at The Downs since Spit And Vinegar paid $214.60 on October 12, 2021. This was the third consecutive card at the mountain oval where a $100+ longshot blew out the tote board (four for eastern Pennsylvania if you count the $107.00 winner at Philly on Sunday). That kind of “triple” has not been matched in the last ten years at Pocono. A total of ten carryover pools were generated by the massive overthrow of the form book during the three-day week.
Bijou Blue Chip was actually a feature race winner at Pocono, as the card headlined four $16,000 contests for two-year-olds. The Back Of The Neck – Read The Book trotting filly clocked a good maiden time of 1:57.2 for driver Lauren Tritton and trainer Annie Stoebe, the latter co-owner with Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and R. Lynn Curry. The race for her male counterparts was won by the Walner – Molto Bene gelding Celebrity Tequila, with whom driver Brian Sears (6-for-15 in his “comeback”) set a slow pace then maintained the advantage for a maiden mark of 2:00 for Flying A Racing Stable, Celebrity Farms, and trainer Hunter Oakes’s H O Racing Inc.
There were also two cuts for pacing fillies, both bringing maiden victories. The Perfect Sting – Philly Hanover distaff Philly’s Sting got the nod in a 1:55.4 decision for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm, while the Stay Hungry – Chant Down Babylon filly Kinda Girl U Like went into grinding mode to be along in 1:56 for Anthony Napolitano and trainer Scott Di Domenico, whose Triple D Stables Inc. owns the baby.
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday (August 15) at 1 p.m., with a $21,000 fast-class pace the top event of the day. A week from this Saturday, August 22, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania will be proud to host North America’s top three-year-olds and free-for-allers in the $2.3M Sun Stakes Saturday supercard, with a first race post that day only of 2:30 p.m. The fields for Sun Stakes Saturday will be drawn the morning of Monday, August 17. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
WILKES-BARRE PA – What in the name of Rod’s Faybill has been going on this past week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania?
In the third race at Scarborough Downs (ME) on Tuesday, June 23, 1981, a trotter named Rod’s Faybill, starting from post eight, attracted a solitary $2 win wager. Rod’s Faybill was far back most of the mile, but he took advantage of a mixup on the far turn and won (by 15 lengths!), returning a win payoff of $1365.80 – according to the Internet, still the largest in harness racing history. (That single ducat was held by a vacationer from Virginia.)
In the sixth race at Pocono on Tuesday, a trotter named Bijou Blue Chip made her career debut from post eight, and she was dismissed at 92-1, the longest odds in the race. Bijou Blue Chip was in the second half of her field most of the race, but then was able to mount a winning rally in her bow.
Bijou Blue Chip’s win payoff was $186.40, the highest recorded at The Downs since Spit And Vinegar paid $214.60 on October 12, 2021. This was the third consecutive card at the mountain oval where a $100+ longshot blew out the tote board (four for eastern Pennsylvania if you count the $107.00 winner at Philly on Sunday). That kind of “triple” has not been matched in the last ten years at Pocono. A total of ten carryover pools were generated by the massive overthrow of the form book during the three-day week.
Bijou Blue Chip was actually a feature race winner at Pocono, as the card headlined four $16,000 contests for two-year-olds. The Back Of The Neck – Read The Book trotting filly clocked a good maiden time of 1:57.2 for driver Lauren Tritton and trainer Annie Stoebe, the latter co-owner with Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc. and R. Lynn Curry. The race for her male counterparts was won by the Walner – Molto Bene gelding Celebrity Tequila, with whom driver Brian Sears (6-for-15 in his “comeback”) set a slow pace then maintained the advantage for a maiden mark of 2:00 for Flying A Racing Stable, Celebrity Farms, and trainer Hunter Oakes’s H O Racing Inc.
There were also two cuts for pacing fillies, both bringing maiden victories. The Perfect Sting – Philly Hanover distaff Philly’s Sting got the nod in a 1:55.4 decision for driver Ridge Warren, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm, while the Stay Hungry – Chant Down Babylon filly Kinda Girl U Like went into grinding mode to be along in 1:56 for Anthony Napolitano and trainer Scott Di Domenico, whose Triple D Stables Inc. owns the baby.
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday (August 15) at 1 p.m., with a $21,000 fast-class pace the top event of the day. A week from this Saturday, August 22, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania will be proud to host North America’s top three-year-olds and free-for-allers in the $2.3M Sun Stakes Saturday supercard, with a first race post that day only of 2:30 p.m. The fields for Sun Stakes Saturday will be drawn the morning of Monday, August 17. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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