By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Im A Gigolo N and Baldaquin furthered their career paths as they won the $15,300 featured races on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
 
The Kiwi import Im A Gigolo N has now won two straight races at this level with a 1:50.4 triumph in the pacing headliner. The Sweet Lou gelding, trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Lawrence Karr, and Phil Collura, sat in the pocket behind fractions of :26.4, :55.3, and 1:22.4 carved out by Actor Hanover, passed that rival in the famed Pocono Pike, and then held off second-over Rhett Hanover under the guidance of Matt Kakaley.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Team Whelan, driver Michael and trainer Walter, were part of the early spring migration from Ontario to the mid-Atlantic when COVID shut down racing in that province. After enjoying some success here in the early season, the Whelans, like the other Canadians, went back across the border; unlike most of their countrymen, they have returned to race at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono over the last few cards, and on Monday they won the $11,200 feature with Great Magic, who equaled his lifetime best of 1:54.4.
 
Great Magic, a son of Kadabra who is also owned by Walter, is atypical of the usual stable style, which seems to focus on come-from-behind horses. Great Magic has been showing a good deal of early zip in his recent races, and here Michael moved him to the lead in front of the stands and kept him going all the way to the wire, finishing four lengths clear of favored Bank Box Treasure.
 
Solid younger performers making their way up the classladder are featured on the Tuesday card, with twin $15,300 features of the “nonwinners of 8 races lifetime” group having a pacing contest in race ten and a trotting event to close out the 13-race card. Programs pages for the 12:30 Tuesday racing are available at https://www.phha.org/downsmsppps.html.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – On a Sunday twilight card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono where many frequent visitors to the local winners circle did so again, but at mutuels larger than their norms, perhaps the oddest trio following that trend – the nine-time seasonal winner Crazy Cute, the track’s leading driver George Napolitano Jr., and the track’s leading trainer Gilbert Garcia-Herrera – won the $19,300 distaff pacing feature as the 10-1 longest shot on the board.
 
The Art Major mare Crazy Cute had won her two previous starts before stepping up to this class last time and tiring after going uncovered to the lead at the 1:22.2 three-quarters, but the public abandoned her here in a competitive six-horse matchup where the favorite was at 2-1. This week “George Nap” raced Crazy Cute off a hot (:54 to the half) pace, then swung off cover in the stretch and won a blanket finish by a head over Bye Bye Felicia, who won last time as the least-fancied of the public. Trainer Garcia-Herrera co-owns Crazy Cute, the winner of $238,950, with Barbara Arnstine.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono was proud to host some of the sport’s most talented sophomores on Saturday in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championships for three-year-olds, along with their respective consolations. Each of the Championship races went for $253,000; the consolation fields contested $50,000; the total purses for the day were $1,294,100.
 
It proved to be a good day for the favorites, as each of the four most highly-regarded Championship horses got their picture taken in Victory Lane afterwards.
 
Here’s a recap of each of the four divisions:

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
STONEBORO PA – A successful two-day meet was held at the Stoneboro Fair in this northwest Pennsylvania town this Thursday and Friday, with fast miles and winning horses continuing to make their marks.
 
The lone track record of the meet was set on Thursday by the Southwind Frank – Tymal Elvira filly Till Im Gone, whose 2:03.2 mile did a number of things: as noted, it broke the divisional track record of 2:04.2, first set by Magnolia Grace ten years to the day before and equaled by Peoplesayimnogood in 2014; it also tied for the all-time fastest two-year-old mile ever at Stoneboro with the male Avenue Of Dreams – also ten years to the day earlier; it was a season’s record for the fair circuit for this filly group, and it tied the males’ record. Till Im Gone was driven by Wayne Long for trainer Bob Rougeaux III, who’s having a phenomenal year, and the Brocious Racing Stable Inc.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Feature race winners Givem The Goo and Big Stretch Mark shared the Friday spotlight at Harrah’s Philadelphia with driver Montrell Teague, who guided five horses to victory – although one could not say that the quintet were exactly prime candidates for visiting the winners circle. They had been a collective 4-for-83 in 2021 entering the day, but are now 9-for-88 after responding to Teague’s touch. George’s fans were rewarded with win payoffs of $55.00 and $33.20 among the five winners.
 
The Googoo Gaagaa sophomore gelding Givem The Goo lowered his mark almost three seconds in winning the $12,600 featured trot in 1:55.3. Russell Foster and Givem The Goo were well-placed in the pocket behind pacesetting Tuff To Be Lindy, then picked that one up in the stretch to win by 2¾ lengths for trainer Kerry Welty and owner Brian Emerson.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – On “Trottin’ Thursday” at Harrah’s Philadelphia, driver Andy Miller, who has handled many a top diagonally-gaited horse over the years, was the big winner with four victories, including taking both of the featured races.
 
In the $14,400 contest for developing horses, Miller guided the Chapter Seven sophomore gelding Steel as he lifted his earnings to $200,411 with a 1:55.4 tally. Steel engaged Shikansen in an early battle for the lead, set the tempo, then held off that opponent by a length for Team Orange Crush, Andy and trainer/wife Julie, and owners Pinske Stables and Crawford Farms Racing.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Tim Tetrick, the meet’s leading driver, kept his hot hand going by driving six winners at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon, but neither of the $12,600 co-featured paces fell to him.
 
The event for male pacers saw two young horsemen with famous last names, Jack Pelling and Patrick Ryder, slugging it out in the stretch, with Pelling and the Somebeachsomewhere sophomore gelding Bay Brute having enough to catch pacesetting Copper Teen and Ryder during  a :55 last half to post a 1:53.1 victory by 1½ lengths. Jack’s father Brett trains the winner for Pelling Racing LLC and Bridle Path Stables LTD.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA -- The Rockin Image gelding Stellar BB has now won five of his last six starts after posting a 1:52.2 victory in the pacing division of the $15,300 co-features at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Tuesday.

George Napolitano Jr. moved the winner to the lead in quarter two and could not be caught, posting identical halves of 56.1 in holding safe clsoer Tell Them Lou by a length for trainer Darren Taneyhill and owner Eric Prevost.

All of Stellar BB's successes have come since he shipped to Pocono from Tioga Downs; the last driver to handle him at Tioga, Braxten Boyd, continued to introduce himself to local fans by winning the trotting co-feature with the Cherry Hill Park gelding Kazan Hanover, who came from last at the three-quarters to post a length victory in 1:54.1, a lifetime best, for owner/trainer Edgar Clarke. 

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WATTSBURG PA – The two-year-olds on the Pennsylvania Fair Circuit continued to be bedeviled by bad luck, as their scheduled Monday card at the Erie County Fair in the far northwest reaches of the state had to be washed out on Monday, the fifth time the freshmen have had their races cancelled (the sophomores have missed just twice.)
 
And the three-year-olds did go on Tuesday, thanks to the hard work of the local track crew, and while no records were set, there was plenty of competitive racing, with $54,350 on the line.
 
Fastest mile of the meet was the 2:02 produced by the Artspeak gelding Seth Hanover, who went to the lead and held it throughout for driver/co-owner Dave Brickell and trainer/co-owner Mitchell York. Putting in a very competitive performance against the winner, who has a 1:55.2 qualifying mark from age two, was the maiden Whatca for Team Neal, who stalked the leader throughout and held his ground very well late.