WILKES-BARRE PA – The top purse offered on Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania was $15,000, for two races for developing horses, one race on each gait.
They were also “big-money events” in another sense as well, because on a day where twelve of the fourteen races brought home a winner who paid $6.40 or less, the feature winners paid $42.80 on the pace and $22.80 on the trot.
20-1 shot Twin B Empress swept three-wide in the lane (avoiding an entanglement that involved the favorite) and dashed home to just catch pacesetter She’s Got It by a nose while reducing her mark to 1:53.2 in the top pace. Tyler Buter had the Always B Miki sophomore filly in a good spot to strike, and she made the most of the opportunity in winning for trainer Ron Burke, who had the distaff ready after 36 days away from the races, and the ubiquitous Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC ownership.
Avoiding trouble was also helpful to the Donato Hanover gelding Brickyard Rally, who went straight to the top at 10-1 in the feature trot and was not directly affected when the two race favorites broke, then held off 34-1 shot Soncando by three parts of a length while equaling his career best of 1:55.1. George Napolitano Jr., who tied for horsemen’s honors on the day with Braxten Boyd as they each had three winning steers, guided the winner for trainer/owner Ray Baynes.
Most impressive winner on the day was the veteran Kadabra trotting mare P L Notsonice, a career winner of $648,206 who sped around the Pocono oval in 1:52.1 while leading at every post. Anthony Napolitano drove the classy mare for trainer Anthony Faulkner , a newcomer fitting in nicely on the Pocono scene, and Elite Harness Racing LLC.
Pocono will be racing on a Saturday-Monday-Tuesday schedule starting at 1 p.m. until the end of the meet on Saturday, November 23. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha,org.