By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Belmondo and Shoresy were impressive winners in the $15,500 co-featured trotting events Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs, where the track was rated “sloppy” and intermittent precipitation descended at points during the card, which was conducted in temperatures a degree or two either side of  freezing.
 
Belmondo came in from Yonkers and made short work of his opposition in 1:56.3 for Team Double D – driver Daniel Dube and trainer Deborah Daguet. The four-year-old Walner gelding, owned by Michael Cote Gagnon, was sent right to the lead and had an open margin the last half of the mile for his first win since the 2024 Championship victory in the Massachusetts program.
 
Shoresy notched his third victory in as many starts since going to the meet’s leading trainer, Per Engblom, winning his division of the feature in 1:57.1. Tyler Buter, Pocono’s top reinsman in 2025 and ahead again early in this meet, worked out a second-over trip with the son of Cantab Hall, lost his cover midturn, and carried on strongly to win for owners Timothy Betts and Shanamphilankilou Inc.
 
YS Do It Right, a champion in the 2020 Quebec breeding program, continues to achieve at age eight. On Tuesday he broke a six-way tie for winningest Standardbred in North America by posting his seventh victory in an undefeated campaign, stopping the timer in 1:55. Mark Herschberger made two speed moves with the son of Bettor’s Delight, and the Monticello shipper proved uncatchable late for trainer-owner Autym Sowers.
 
Herschberger notched a driving triple on the card; Buter, Ridge Warren, and Anthony Napolitano had doubles (for the last-named his third two-bagger in as many racing days this week). Trainer Chelsey Faurot sent out two successful charges, ready to go after layoffs of 86 and 93 days.
 
Racing resumes at Pocono on Saturday at 1 p.m., featuring the richest race of the year to date at the mountain oval, the $35,000 Game Of Claims Pacing Series Championship for horses base-tagged at $30,000 (and claiming out of the final is permitted this year). In the three GOC prelim rounds, the eight finalists recorded ten victories and 21 out of 24 1-2-3 finishes, which should ensure a competitive challenge for the horses and horsemen as well as for the wagering public. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – After racing at Monticello, Yonkers, and Saratoga already in 2026, Turn The Page N was on the road again on Monday at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, taking the big end of the purse in the $27,500 fast-class handicap pace for mares.
 
Ron Cushing, who co-owns the Heidi Cushing trainee with Kevin Sywyk, was content to sit with his mare in the pocket behind pacesetter My Red Sea through mild fractions of :27, :56, and 1:24.2 on a chilly day. He then ducked the daughter of Vincent to the Pocono Pike and outpaced her opposition home in 1:53.2. Dandy’s Mercy skimmed the far inside of the course to take second, a length back of the 40% career winner (24 victories in 60 starts).
 
The clocking was a little faster, 1:52.2, in the $17,500 pacing co-feature for developing distaffs, with the winner another New Zealand import who loves to get home first, the Johny Rock mare Raspalia N, now victorious seven times in but sixteen lifetime trips behind the gate.
 
Driver Lauren Tritton was determined to make the lead despite the outside post seven, and she and her charge had to cover a good bit of extra real estate, well beyond a :27 quarter, before hitting the top, whereupon she continued on to middle fractions of :55.3 and 1:22.3. Raspalia N had enough in reverse to keep the pocketsitting Loot, the longest shot in the race, 1¾ lengths behind her to the wire, keeping her Stateside record perfect after three starts for trainer Agostino Abbatiello and owner Durazzano Stable LLC.
 
The Monday card again showed parity in the sulkysitter ranks, with the same pattern as Saturday: two wins were recorded by Simon Allard, Braxten Boyd, Mark Herschberger, and Anthony Napolitano (the only repeat doubler), and one win by six other drivers. On the Monday card, fourteen different trainers were responsible for the winners of the fourteen races.
 
If the weather does not force a change in plans, Pocono will close out its racing week on Tuesday at 1 p.m., with a pair of $15,500 contests for up-and-coming trotters in the spotlight. Saturday has the next scheduled card, and that 1 p.m. program will feature the richest race of the young Pocono season, the $35,000 Championship of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series for horses base-priced at $30,000, with the field of eight showing ten victories and 21 1-2-3 finishes in their cumulative 24 starts in the GOC preliminaries.
 
 Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – You don’t often see the words “Pocono Downs,” “February” and “1:49.2” in the same sentence; then again, you seldom can find the first two concepts and “57 degrees” in one sentence, either.
 
Reaching that impressive time on Saturday, just a tick off the fastest mile anywhere in North America in 2026, was the Sweet Lou gelding Lou Hill, winning Pocono’s $27,500 pacing feature by a neck over Catalpa Rescue A in a second consecutive 1-2 finish. Last time Lou Hill set the pace and resisted the late pocket thrust of his Aussie foe; this week “Lou” again made early command then pushed Catalpa Rescue A past a :27 quarter before sitting in the golden chair behind midsplits of :54.4 and 1:22. Simon Allard popped Lou Hill, now a winner at a 36% clip in his career, out for the drive and gradually wore down the pacesetting chalk for trainer Per Engblom and owner Tom Hill.
 
The horse who had the NoAm 1:49.1 “speediest” distinction (at post time at least) was Rockin Jukebox; he came to Pocono off that Meadowlands mile and set the pace in the $20,000 pacing cofeature but could not hold the advantage. That event went to the Somebeachsomewhere gelding South Beach Star (himself no slouch at success with a 34% lifetime ratio), who had to overcome an uncovered journey as the chalk but still held off the sweeper Vici by a head in 1:51. Braxten Boyd had sulky duties for trainer Mark Silva and All Star Racing Inc.
 
A $27,500 handicap contest for fast-class trotters was won by the Resolve gelding Resolve To Win (30% career win rate) and driver George Napolitano Jr. in 1:53.1. He equaled his own Pocono seonalas trot mark while catching his stablemate Super Duper Cooper by a neck after tripping out in the two-hole behind his barnmate.  Enrico Robinson trains and Pollack Racing LLC owns both of the 1-2 diamondgaiters.
 
The top-notch card also featured four $17,000 divisions of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series, which this week found the entrants base-tagged for $30,000. Two of the winners recorded a second victory in the GOC Series, and those two will change barns after being among the six horses who were claimed just before next Saturday’s $35,000 Championship.
 
Greatest Ending, who posted the co-fastest time of 1:51 and was the only series winner not to take a mark Saturday, will be coming out of a new barn for the third time in four starts, while Rum And Raisins (1:51.3) will be racing for his fourth straight set of new connections. Also successful in the last prelim, and not getting claimed, were Twiggs Pub (1:51) and Up The Creek (1:51.2); the latter will be hard-pressed to make the final as this was his initial series start.
 
Horsemen who posted doubles in the exciting Saturday action were trainers Joe Bongiorno and Cote Keim and drivers Brett Beckwith, Colin Kelly, and the Napolitano brothers, Anthony and George Jr.
 
A fine field of female pacers have been gathered together for the $27,500 handicap feature at The Downs on Monday afternoon, when post time will be 1 p.m. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – After being forced to cancel its scheduled Monday program by the wrath of Mother Nature over the northeast U.S., Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania was able to complete the bookends of its racing week on Tuesday, and favorites generally did well despite the temperatures remaining in the mid-20s.
 
The $15,500 trotting feature, though, had longshots galore getting the highest checks. The International Moni mare Moni Multiplier, second at 61-1 in her 2026 bow, was bet down to 8-1 this week and won in 1:58.4 while defeating Vanguard (25-1), Brother Love (14-1) and Melissa P (39-1), a Superfecta forcing a carryover in that pool.
 
Now 50% in the win column since teaming with trainer Neal Ehrhart and owners JMF Racing LLC, Moni Multiplier was given a patient steer by driver Jim Pantaleano: sitting second-over, Moni Multiplier was kept in the two-path by Pantaleano on the far bend  when favored Net Weight launched wide off her back, but the winner found clearance from the blindswitch after the sweeper broke and then herself closed to get the win very late.
 
Tyler Buter, winner of the 2025 driving dash title at Pocono, showed he was still a major danger for this campaign as he visited Victory Lane five times. Braxten Boyd, after picking up his Rising Star Award in Florida on Sunday, won three races Tuesday, while George Napolitano Jr. and Ridge Warren doubled. On the training side defending Pocono kingpin Ron Burke, who took home many trophies at the Sunday awards banquet, had both his winners driven by Buter; the other doubling conditioner, Cote Keim, had his victorious charges guided once by Buter and once by “George Nap.”
 
The excellent early-season racing at Pocono will continue this coming week, with a trio of $27,500 contests slated: fast-class events for both trotters and pacers on Saturday, and a handicap contest for distaff pacers on Monday. The next Pocono card will be Saturday at 1 p.m., and in addition to the aforementioned races it will contain four $17,000 divisions of the third and final preliminary  leg of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series, with no horse base-tagged for $30,000 this week able to post wins in the five divisions of both of the first two legs.
 
Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA -- The barn of trainer Per Engblom continues to be crackling hot, as on Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania horses conditioned by Engblom swept the $27,500 fast-class events.
 
First up (in two senses) was the Chapter Seven gelding Cecil Hanover, winning the top trot in 1:54 while boosting his lifetime earnings to $655,745. Matt Kakaley sat in third with the winner most of the way through fractions of :28.1, :57.2, and 1:26.2, then moved the Engblom trainee outside just before the last-named station, and “Cecil” went  his own last quarter in :27.2 to win for fun for FAC Racing LLC and Team Gingras, Yannick and Jaden.
 
In the headline pace, the Super Lou gelding Lou Hill, second to stablemate Pinny Tiger A in last week’s feature, improved on that finish by one with a 1:51.1 tally. Simon Allard got “Lou” to the top in :27.2 then caught a semi-breather with him to a :56.1 half; the pair then bolted home in :55 - :27 to withstand the inside rush of favored Catalpa Rescue A by a neck for owner Tom Hill.
 
The second prelim of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series, with Saturday seeing $27,500 base-tagged horses competing for $16,000, again drew five divisions – and now the series has generated ten different winners. The fastest cut, 1:51.2, saw the Captaintreacherous gelding Simon Says Hanover use the Pocono Pike as his route to the winners circle for driver Colin Kelly and owner Ashley Bako.
 
The only Saturday GOC winner to be claimed was Supplemental Fee, who was claimed last week and will change barns again now after a 1:52.1 score. Other winners were Greatest Ending (1:52.4), Nineteenth Man A (1:53), and D A McDreamy (1:53).Eight horses were claimed from the second prelim, with the cash register ringing up sales of $220,000.
 
Brett Beckwith topped all drivers with three wins Saturday, with Tyler Buter and Ridge Warren each having two; Engblom was the only trainer with a multiple-win day.
 
Pocono is set to race next on Monday at 1 p.m., but we’ll see what Mother Nature deals us before then. (The next Pocono card will have a carryover of $3,948.64 in the first race Pick 4, whenever it is held.) Free Pocono program pages are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Mr Pasadena, second in Pocono’s inaugural card of 2026 this past Saturday, came right back on two days’ rest to capture the $15,500 featured trot on Tuesday at the mountain oval, winning in 1:57.1.
 
Braxten Boyd hustled the Green Manilishi S gelding right to the lead from the outermost starting slot, hitting the first station in :28.3 then getting a breather to the half in :59.2. The odds-on favorite went past the three-quarters in 1:28.1, but through the stretch 61-1 shot Moni Multiplier made growling noises in the Pocono Pike, forcing Mr Pasadena to work for a half-length decision. Braxten Boyd guided the chalk to Victory Lane for trainer Jill Wine and Wine Stable.
 
Simon Allard and Anthony Napolitano each guided a pair of winners on the Tuesday card; no trainer could manage more than one appearance in the winners circle.
 
Pocono’s next card will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m., and like the opening card there are a pair of $27,500 supercharged fast-class events, one on each gait, along with five $16,000 second round preliminaries of the Game Of Claims Pacing Series, with the entrants valued this week at a base claiming price of $27,500. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Stay Focused, who won his last start on the last day of 2025, came back sharply to the races on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, recording a solid 1:53.4 engine victory in the $15,500 feature for up-and-coming pacing males.
 
Over a track at less than peak speed all afternoon, the brown altered son of Stay Hungry, trained by Travis Alexander for owner Eric Prevost, bolted out strongly from post five and quickly had command, accelerating to put favored Captain Fear in behind him to a :28.1 quarter. After reaching the half in :57.2, Stay Focused easily saw off an uncovered bid by Bettor’s Desire going to the 1:25.1 three-quarters, and when Captain Fear tried him again late, the winner proved to have more in reserve, winning by 1¼ lengths.
 
Stay Focused was driven by Matt Kakaley, giving the winner of three of the last four Pocono sulky victory crowns a triple on the day and earning Monday bragging rights. Tyler Buter, the 2025 local dash king, and Anthony Napolitano had driving doubles.
 
The trotting equivalent of the class of horses in Monday’s feature will have their turn at going for $15,500 as the headlining race on Tuesday’s card, which begins at 1 p.m.; there will also be a carryover in the fourth race Pick 3 wager. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The 2026 racing season got underway on Saturday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, and with the temperatures in the 40s (balmy for this time of year in northeast Pennsylvania), excellent speed standards were achieved over a well-groomed oval.
 
Two weeks ago at The Meadowlands, Resolve To Win was third at 5-2 in the same race as Ultion Face S, who was fourth at 51-1; last week Resolve To Win faded late at the Meadows, while Ultion Face S went wire-to-wire at Yonkers. In Pocono’s $27,500 fast-class handicap trot Saturday, the long-memoried got a nice 5-1 price on the Resolve gelding Resolve To Win, who sat on the back of 1-5 chalk Ultion Face S in fractions of :27, :56, and 1:24.3, then moved at headstretch and trotted away in 1:53.1. Brett Beckwith handled the winner of $359,096 for trainer Enrico Robinson and owner Pollack Racing LLC.
 
In the $27,500 featured pace, it looked for a while like the similar situation as in the trot might be developing, as two Per Engblom trainees raced 1-2, with heavy favorite Pinny Tiger A on the lead coming into the lane, with 7-1 Lou Hill – who had defeated Pinny Tiger A at The Meadowlands in his last race, at the end of 2025 – enjoying the golden chair. But Pinny Tiger A, who made two moves early (:27.4, :56) to control the tempo after a sharp 1:50.4 win at The Meadows in his 2026 bow, was equal to the challenge, powering home in :54.2 - :26.4 to reduce his mark to 1:50.2. Jason Bartlett was in the sulky for the winner, who ran his Stateside record to 9-7-2-0 for Engblom and Elite Harness Racing LLC.
 
Trainer Brandon Presto, the top trainer at The Meadows, loaded a trailer with six horses to compete in the $15,000 first round preliminaries of the Game To Claim Pacing Series for horses base-tagged at $25,000. He won with three of them – but will head back westward with none of the three, as the trio were part of the nine horses haltered for a combined $225,000 in this hectic claiming series.
 
The three Presto horses, all driven by George Napolitano Jr. for owner Rocco Stebbins, won the three fastest divisions. Quickest time was the 1:51.3 posted by the Captaintreacherous gelding Ilderton AM, who caught pacesetter Supplemental Fee by a nose – a week after Stebbins/Presto claimed him. The Custard The Dragon gelding Rum N Raisins posted a new mark of 1:51.4 in his section, while the Sweet Lou gelding Do Mischief succeeded in 1:52.
 
Also winning and then having to change barns was Dontlikeitleave, an altered son of A Rocknroll Dance who nipped Whiskey Breath by the slimmest of margins in 1:52.2 for Team Stratton, driver Jordan and trainer Cory, and Caldwell Marnie Racing LLC (the successful claimants of Do Mischief). Getting the luxury of returning to “familiar surroundings” was the Check Six gelding Six Again, a 1:52.2 winner for driver Matt Kakaley and owner Stacey Currie; “familiar surroundings” is a relative term here, as Six Again had just come to trainer Crit Walsh before this race.
 
Jason Bartlett, who will be picking up his 2025 Driver of the Year trophy in Florida next weekend, had four winners in all, three for Per Engblom; George Napolitano Jr. and Brandon Presto had their mutual triples as noted; and Brett Beckwith had a trio of winners circle visits as well, two trained by Joe Bongiorno.
 
Pocono opens the season with the basic schedule it will follow almost the entire year – racing on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday at 1 p.m. – and the next card on Monday will have a $15,500 pace for developing horses. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.  

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania starts off its 2026 season with a 1 p.m. program on Saturday, February 14, and it is as solid a racing card as may have been presented during any of the previous sixty Pocono curtainraisers.
 
There is a $27,500 fast-class feature for seasoned veterans on both gaits. The sixth race trot is a handicap affair, with the four outermost starters in the field of seven showing a victory on their top lines. The Brodster, starting from the far outside for trainer Per Engblom, will be going for his fifth straight victory; his stablemate Ultion Face N, a wire-to-wire at Yonkers last Thursday, starts just inside him, and it will be interesting to see which horse Jason Bartlett, named on both and another starter in the race, will be handling.
 
Engblom also has a pair in the $27,500 pacing headliner. Pinny Tiger A had won five straight starts before ending his 2025 with a head defeat at the hands of Lou Hill – the other Engblom trainee, and away from the races since that December 27 triumph. Pinny Tiger A opened his 2026 campaign with a rallying win in 1:50.4 at The Meadows on January 31, and will start from post three in this seven-horse field, with Lou Hill beginning from the five slot.
 
The inaugural card will also feature five $15,000 divisions of the first preliminary leg of the popular Game Of Claims Pacing Series, the fields in for a base tag of $25,000 this week. Brandon Presto, the leading trainer at The Meadows, will load up a truck with six GOC series horses for an eastern invasion, and the sextet show eleven wins among their past performance lines. Paul Blumenfeld, Cory Stratton, and Darren Taneyhill will have starters from their respective barns in four of the five divisions of the GOC series, which culminates in a $35,000 Championship on Saturday, March 7.
 
Tuesday also was the second consecutive day that Pocono hosted qualifying races for horses prepping for this campaign; weekly qualifiers will shift to Wednesday after this week. On Tuesday, with the temperatures “balmy” as elevating from 26o to 31o during the session, there were three sub-1:55 times turned in, the fastest of 1:54.2 turned in by Expedited Service, one of four winners George Napolitano Jr. drove. Mindtrip (1:54.3) and Dandy’s Mercy (1:54.4) clocked the other swift clockings. On the trot, trainer Jill Roland had the fastest two winners, Te Amo Lindy (1:57.2) and Robbie Pev (1:57.4).
 
Both Monday’s and Tuesday’s qualifiers are viewable on the PHHA website, www.phha.org.
 
Pocono will draw Wednesday (the 11th) for 1 p.m. racing on Monday the 16th and on Thursday (the 12th) for racing on Tuesday the 17th; the box for the pari-mutuel cards closes at 9 a.m. After that, the pari-mutuel draws will revert to their normal schedule: draw Monday for Saturday, draw Tuesday for Monday, and draw Wednesday for Tuesday.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania held its first qualifying session of the 2026 season on Monday. Despite 15-degree temperatures, several horses and horsemen evinced sharp form that should serve them well in the early part of the Pocono campaign, which starts this Saturday (February 14) at 1 p.m.
 
Fastest mile of the chilly qualifiers was the 1:54 clocking turned in by the Sunfire Blue Chip gelding Sun Of A Show, who went wire-to-wire and snapped home in :27.2 to withstand pocketsitter Captain Moore A by a half-length for trainer Tee Wine and Wine Stable. Sun Of A Show was driven by Rising Star Award winner Braxten Boyd, who was the only winning sulkysmith on the card not wearing some variation of red and white driving colors.
 
Trainer Scott Blackler, who conditions Captain Moore A, had two other high-powered pacers win for him and owner Chad Kowal. One was Catalpa Rescue A, an American Ideal gelding who had a hard-two-move trip yet still prevailed for driver Jason Bartlett, last year’s local UDR champion, in 1:55.2 after closing in :27.1; the other was the Captaintreacherous gelding Heza Charttopper A, who went wire-to-wire in 1:56, with back numbers of :56.3 - :28, for driver Colin Kelly.
 
Also garnering a training double was Darren Taneyhill, whose winning pair were both guided by Matt Kalaley: Jojo’s Place (1:56.3) and Santafe’s Coach (1:57.4). The latter won a Hempt elimination here in 2017 and is still going strong as a 12-year-old.
 
The other driving doubler was Ridge Warren, who won with two trotters: Kinnder Thinktwice, who was a very good 1:56.1 – :28.3 winner despite the chill, and Midnight Dreams (2:00.2).
 
Another set of ten qualifiers will be conducted Tuesday with an 11 a.m. post, with horses entered from all parts of the class spectrum. One interesting newcomer is Liberty’s Wildcard, who went 12 for 13 in the Maine Sire Stakes sophomore male trotter ranks last year, including a win in the $100,876 Championship at Bangor.
 
Tuesday will also be draw day for Saturday’s first card of the 2026 pari-mutuel season at Pocono (box closes 9 a.m.). Among the features on Saturday will be the first of three preliminary rounds in the popular Game Of Claims Series for pacers base-tagged for $25,000, as the entrants will try to earn spots in the $35,000 series Championship on Saturday, March 7. Pocono will also race on Monday the 16th and Tuesday the 17th at 1 p.m.; this three-day-a-week schedule will be in effect for virtually all of the racing year, joined by nine consecutive 5 p.m. Sunday cards starting May 31.