By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Trainer Ron Burke sent out winners in three of the four $30,000 divisions of Pennsylvania All-Stars competition at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Saturday night. Simon Allard drove two of the successful freshman fillies for Burke, including the fastest winner, Shouldabeenatd, whose 1:52.3 winning time was a North American season’s record.
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Allard left with the Sweet Lou – Breakheart Pass filly then let Lyons Sentinel go to the top before the :27.2 quarter; that one in turn gave way to favored Firefly in front of the stands, and she went on to the half in :56, with Shouldabeenatd coming back for more first-over and battling the leader to the 1:24.1 three-quarters.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Rockn Philly, straight off a victory in the Lynch Consolation at Pocono, won as the heavy favorite in the $17,000 featured distaff pace on Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but she had to be sharp in the stretch to wear down pacesetting Lyons Hedgeabet in 1:51.2.

The victorious sophomore daughter of A Rocknroll Dance was away second for the meet’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, as Lyons Hedgeabet beat the entire field away from the outside post eight and put up fractions of :27, :55.3, and 1:22.3. The leader did not surrender easily, but Rockn Philly found enough late to defeat her main rival by a half length for trainer Jim King Jr. and the ownership of Tim Tetrick LLC and Jo Ann Looney-King.

There were a pair of $16,000 subfeatures, one for filly and mare pacers and the other for trotters. The pacing event was captured by the Captaintreachrous sophomore filly Alii Nui, who advanced with cover, went three-deep mid-far turn, swept by pacesetting Afraid Not Hanover, then held off the inside move of Ilana Z Tam in 1:52.3 by ¾ of a length. Driver Marcus Miller’s father Erv trains the winner, now victorious in four of her last eight starts for Ervin Miller Stable Inc., Hannah Miller, Nick Surick Stable LLC, and Louis Willinger.

On the trot, Amador passed Smooth Acceleration going to the quarter and set reasonable middle fractions,with Massive Opulence grinding up first-over. When the first-up made a break headstretch, Smooth Acceleration moved out to challenge, but driver Simon Allard kept the Yankee Glide sophomore gelding Amador rolling and nosed out his charging rival in 1:55.4. It was the second consecutive victory notched by Amador for owner/trainer Joseph King.
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Before heading to The Meadowlands for nighttime stakes duty after the ninth race, David Miller, the leading active moneywinning driver with over $235M, won four races on the Friday afternoon card.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
HUGHESVILLE PA – The horses are beginning to sort themselves out along the 2019 Pennsylvania fair circuit, but among the drivers there is already a clear pattern – Shawn Johnston is likely to dominate the proceedings on two-year-old day, and Todd Schadel is likely to be the big gun when the three-year-olds race. This model held true during two days of racing at the Lycoming County Fair in this northcentral Pennsylvania town, where Johnston won six races on freshman Wednesday, and Schadel won seven on sophomore Thursday.

Among the two-year-olds, the classes in the “A” Sire Stakes with the most interest were probably the trotting colts and pacing fillies, each split into two divisions, one of which saw a winning tendency extended and the other a streak broken.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Over a track that has not been kind to closers lately, the $14,500 featured trot on Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia narrowed down to a pair of stretch chargers, Rock Of Cashel and All Champy, with the latter getting up in the final strides by a neck in 1:53.3.

Rock Of Cashel (driver David Miller) was second-over and All Champy (Dexter Dunn) third-over behind first-up Casa Palmera, who went up to battle pacesetting Inner Peace after the last-named went fractions of :27.3 and :56.3. The front-end duel continued past the 1:24.4 three-quarters and through the turn, with Rock Of Cashel swinging wide and All Champy wider as they headed to the stretch.
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Rock Of Cashel made the stretch lead, but the Explosive Matter gelding All Champy was a determined trotter, and he got the job done for the seventh time this season while boosting his yearly bankroll to $118,905. William Wyatt trains the winner for owners Howard and Joshua Kauffman.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The sensational Australian import None Bettor A goes for his ninth consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia as the 9-5 morning line favorite in a $30,000 Great Northeast Open Series (GNOS) contest for fast-class open pacers.

None Bettor A, an altered son of Bettor’s Delight trained by Jennifer Bongiorno for owners Joe P Racing LLC and Oldford Racing LLC, opened his U.S. account with a pair of good thirds, then has been untouchable since his win streak started on April 27. During that time, he has won his only two starts in the GNOS, and he equaled the all-time track record at Cleveland’s Northfield Park with a 1:49 victory over the half-mile oval. Jen Bongiorno’s brother Joe is to drive None Bettor A as the pair begins from post two in Sunday’s seven-horse field.

The last time the GNOS open pacers were at Philly, Keep On Rocking A and Our Max Phactor N were a nose apart at the wire, and they again figure to be in the thick of the action this Sunday. Keep On Rocking A, who closed from eighth at the stretch call to win that race, his second after a brief layoff, will begin from post four for trainer Chris Scicluna and driver Pat Berry, while Our Max Phactor N, who had to go first-over in that contest and almost hung on, will begin from post five for “Team Andrew” – trainer Andrew Harris and driver Andrew McCarthy.
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Also in the field are The Wall (PP1, trainer Nick Surick, driver George Napolitano Jr.), I’m A Big Deal (PP3, trainer Chris Ryder, driver Dexter Dunn), Decoy (PP6, trainer Gary Candell, driver Jimmy Takter), and Mister Ohanzee A (PP7, trainer Jim King Jr., driver Tim Tetrick). The GNOS contest is slated for the seventh race on Sunday’s fourteen-race Philly card, which is scheduled to begin at 12:40 p.m.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The Muscle Mass sophomore gelding Cavill Hanover came off the stakes trail and promptly wired his field in the $16,000 trotting feature in a career best 1:55 during the Wednesday afternoon program at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

Trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt never showed any intention than to race the three-year-old on the lead, and Cavill Hanover took the field through fractions of :27.4, :57.4, and 1:25.4. Favored Daylon Phantom came three-wide on the final turn and loomed menacingly, but Cavill Hanover had more than enough to turn back his late charge by 1 1/2 lengths. The Wolfgang A Stable Inc. and Boris Nasstrom share ownership in the winner with the Little E LLC of Jeff Gural, who earlier in the day was announced as being on the summer ballot for election to the Hall of Fame.

In a $14,500 event for fast-class pacers, favored Ideal Wheel brushed to the lead after a :26.3 quarter, and before the :55.3 half he was challenged by Santiago Style, who was parked the mile. The two continued their fight past the 1:23.4 three-quarters and into the stretch, where it was the favorite who gave way – but Santiago Style had Western Hill on his back from the second turn, and it was that Western Ideal gelding who went by the gallant if unlucky Santiago Style late to win by ¾ of a length in 1:52.3. Corey Callahan guided the winner of two straight and $298,707 lifetime for trainer Ed Gannon Jr., also co-owner with Frank Canzone.
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Tim Tetrick, who literally minutes before the Early Double had his place on this summer’s Hall of Fame balloting announced, then went out to sweep the Double with favorites Sweet Colt Of Mine and Turn The Paige. In all Tetrick, the leading dashwinning driver at Philly, had five victories; another came with the freshman Somebeachsomewhere – Fashion Ecstasy filly, Beyond Ecstasy, a full sister to Filibuster Hanover who won her purse bow in 1:55.3.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The two-year-old Pennsylvania-sired pacers take over the spotlight this weekend at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with four $30,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars event for females scheduled for Saturday and the same number of sections for males carded for Sunday.

Ron Burke, operator of the biggest stable in North American harness racing and a Pennsylvania-based horsemen, has no fewer than twenty-two freshmen entered in the Pocono weekend stakes action – a dozen fillies on Saturday and ten colts on Sunday. Burke will send out the favorite in one division of the fillies and two among the colts.
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The baby miss who is the morning line favorite in her cut for Burke is the Sweet Lou – Breakheart Pass filly Shouldabeenatd, who won two of her three preparatory qualifiers at New Jersey’s Gaitway Farms, then was second in a Kindergarten Series leg at The Meadowlands, timed in 1:52.2. Burke also has the second choice in this tenth race contest, Sweet Ace (Sweet Lou – One Ace Too Many), who makes her first purse start on Saturday after winning two Gaitway qualifiers, the faster in 1:54.3.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
WILKES-BARRE PA – Sister Sledge trotted the fastest mile of 2019 by a freshman when she won one of five $30,000 divisions of Pennsylvania All-Stars action for two-year-old trotting fillies in 1:53.4 on the Tuesday twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

A daughter of freshman colt track recordholder Father Patrick out of the $580,000+-winning Behindclosedoors, Sister Sledge tucked behind a :27.2 early duel between Ms Savannah Belle and Solsbury Hill, then moved uncovered towards the :56.4 half. Ms Savannah Belle (Jimmy Takter driving) put up a good fight along the inside to the 1:25.1 three-quarters and through the turn, but in the stretch Yannick Gingras sat calmly in the sulky as his powerful horse drew away to a 4 1/2 length victory for trainer Ron Burke and the ownership of Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Jason Mellilo, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby.
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Sister Sledge, the only favorite to win in these All-Stars events, won three qualifiers at Gaitway, the last in 1:55.2, before making her purse bow with a 1:56.2 win in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes last Tuesday. Her clocking eclipsed the fastest time by a freshman filly, 1:55.1 by Love A Good Story at Tioga, and even eclipsed the 1:54.3 put up by the colt Play Trix On Me at The Meadowlands.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Six $30,000 divisions of Pennsylvania All-Stars stakes action for two-year-old trotting males were featured Monday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, with enough pedigree and precociousness showing that fans of the mountain oval may have seen a starter or two in the 2020 Hambletonian, a race 13 months to the day in the future.
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Two of the winners set season’s records in 1:55.2; the one with the more adventurous journey was the gelding Real Cool Sam, whose sire Muscle Hill had four stallion credits in the six All-Stars races and whose mother Cooler Schooner set a 1:51.3 world record here as a freshman. David Miller settled the winner, who won his purse bow in 1:56 at Philly, in fourth early as double purse winner and favored (both were 4-5 on the board) Paulie Walnuts went down the road in :28.1, :57.4, and 1:26.2, with the winner moving right to him approaching the three-quarters.