Photo: Curtis Salonick
By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
WILKES-BARRE PA – The last two weeks at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, the far turn has been the biggest foe for the three-year-old Always B Miki sophomore gelding Twin B Thriller. Last week, he suffered broken equipment nearing the stretch, then would go on to make an equipment break; in Saturday’s $50,000 Championship of the Bobby Weiss Pacing Series, his smoothness of gait on that curve might not have won him any points, but his grit and speed earned him $25,000 as he won the finale in 1:52.1 on a dank day and sloppy track.
Ooglesaurus and Twin B Thriller had won in each of the first two Weiss prelims; last week Ooglesaurus took off while Twin B Thriller had his misfortune. In the Championship, Ooglesaurus, starting just inside of his fellow double winner, was the favorite, and after making the early lead kept his opponent outside to a :27.2 quarter. His big foe having been cleared (although not without a couple of fumbly steps), Twin B Thriller kept going right down the road for driver George Napolitano Jr., putting up midsplits of :56.3 and 1:23.4.
Twin B Thriller kept it together on the far bend and paced strongly to the wire; Barrow, starting from the rail and having pushed the other two early, came up the Pocono Pike to get second, three parts of a length behind the winner and two lengths ahead of Ooglesaurus. Twin B Thriller, three-of-four this year and seven-of-ten lifetime, went to the barn of Dennis A Laterza for the 2026 campaign after an off-season purchase by Ginko Stable Inc. and Latz A Luck Stable.
In the $20,000 Weiss Consolation, the Bettor’s Wish colt Vizcaya was moved to the lead near the quarter and posted identical halves of :56.3 to take a new mark of 1:53.1 handily. Anibal Borjas drove the winner for trainer Tony Alagna, whose Alagna Racing LLC shares ownership with Joseph Giaramita and Ronald Ostrow.
There were two $27,500 fast-class events scheduled for the veteran set. In the division restricted to four- and five-year-olds, another son of Bettor’s Wish, the gelding Odds On Wildfire, is now unbeaten in two seasonal starts and 15-for-32 lifetime after a 1:51.4 win in the muck. The four-year-old was moved twice to the lead by Dexter Dunn, and he stormed home in :55.3 to win unthreatened (his nurserymate Odds On No Limit was second) for trainer-owner Geovany Hernandez.
The other fast-class section, a handicap, saw the Sweet Lou five-year-old gelding Lou Hill both put in against older horses and handicapped outside, but the author of Pocono’s fastest mile this year (1:49.2) had no problem with this assignment, directed to the front by driver Colin Kelly and not looking back. He won in the off going in 1:51 to run his Pocono seasonal record to 6-4-2-0 for trainer Per Engblom, the 2026 local top conditioner, and owner Tom Hill.
Another talented “Lou” covered the off track in the quickest time of the day, as Lou Grant, another altered son of Sweet Lou, impressed in his seasonal bow, never looking back from the rail, and pacing home in :54.3 for a 1:50.2 victory. Dave Palone handled the driving chores for trainer Rick Hercules and owners Jack Piatt III and Howard Alexander.
Goliath Hanover was parked well past the quarter to get the front, saw two others go to the lead midrace, then waited and found room up the Pocono Pike to take the victory in a high-level claimer. Doesn’t sound unusual, does it? But consider these three facts: 1) he paid $118.20 to win in doing so; 2) he was driven by Pocono’s leading driver in 2025 and (so far) 2026, Tyler Buter; and 3) he is from the barn of Ron Burke, winner of the last four training crowns here and this year the first conditioner to send out two $50+ winners.
Two-time winners among the horsemen on the card were drivers Jason Bartlett, Tyler Buter, and George Napolitano. Of the pair of conditioners who won twice: both of Ron Burke’s were driven by Tyler Buter and both of Enrico Robinson’s were handled by Jason Bartlett.
$50,000 Weiss finals continue on Monday’s and Tuesday’s cards at Pocono, both beginning at 1 p.m.: the trotting males will have their Championship on Monday, with fillies of both gaits set to match up on Tuesday. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
WILKES-BARRE PA – The last two weeks at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, the far turn has been the biggest foe for the three-year-old Always B Miki sophomore gelding Twin B Thriller. Last week, he suffered broken equipment nearing the stretch, then would go on to make an equipment break; in Saturday’s $50,000 Championship of the Bobby Weiss Pacing Series, his smoothness of gait on that curve might not have won him any points, but his grit and speed earned him $25,000 as he won the finale in 1:52.1 on a dank day and sloppy track.
Ooglesaurus and Twin B Thriller had won in each of the first two Weiss prelims; last week Ooglesaurus took off while Twin B Thriller had his misfortune. In the Championship, Ooglesaurus, starting just inside of his fellow double winner, was the favorite, and after making the early lead kept his opponent outside to a :27.2 quarter. His big foe having been cleared (although not without a couple of fumbly steps), Twin B Thriller kept going right down the road for driver George Napolitano Jr., putting up midsplits of :56.3 and 1:23.4.
Twin B Thriller kept it together on the far bend and paced strongly to the wire; Barrow, starting from the rail and having pushed the other two early, came up the Pocono Pike to get second, three parts of a length behind the winner and two lengths ahead of Ooglesaurus. Twin B Thriller, three-of-four this year and seven-of-ten lifetime, went to the barn of Dennis A Laterza for the 2026 campaign after an off-season purchase by Ginko Stable Inc. and Latz A Luck Stable.
In the $20,000 Weiss Consolation, the Bettor’s Wish colt Vizcaya was moved to the lead near the quarter and posted identical halves of :56.3 to take a new mark of 1:53.1 handily. Anibal Borjas drove the winner for trainer Tony Alagna, whose Alagna Racing LLC shares ownership with Joseph Giaramita and Ronald Ostrow.
There were two $27,500 fast-class events scheduled for the veteran set. In the division restricted to four- and five-year-olds, another son of Bettor’s Wish, the gelding Odds On Wildfire, is now unbeaten in two seasonal starts and 15-for-32 lifetime after a 1:51.4 win in the muck. The four-year-old was moved twice to the lead by Dexter Dunn, and he stormed home in :55.3 to win unthreatened (his nurserymate Odds On No Limit was second) for trainer-owner Geovany Hernandez.
The other fast-class section, a handicap, saw the Sweet Lou five-year-old gelding Lou Hill both put in against older horses and handicapped outside, but the author of Pocono’s fastest mile this year (1:49.2) had no problem with this assignment, directed to the front by driver Colin Kelly and not looking back. He won in the off going in 1:51 to run his Pocono seasonal record to 6-4-2-0 for trainer Per Engblom, the 2026 local top conditioner, and owner Tom Hill.
Another talented “Lou” covered the off track in the quickest time of the day, as Lou Grant, another altered son of Sweet Lou, impressed in his seasonal bow, never looking back from the rail, and pacing home in :54.3 for a 1:50.2 victory. Dave Palone handled the driving chores for trainer Rick Hercules and owners Jack Piatt III and Howard Alexander.
Goliath Hanover was parked well past the quarter to get the front, saw two others go to the lead midrace, then waited and found room up the Pocono Pike to take the victory in a high-level claimer. Doesn’t sound unusual, does it? But consider these three facts: 1) he paid $118.20 to win in doing so; 2) he was driven by Pocono’s leading driver in 2025 and (so far) 2026, Tyler Buter; and 3) he is from the barn of Ron Burke, winner of the last four training crowns here and this year the first conditioner to send out two $50+ winners.
Two-time winners among the horsemen on the card were drivers Jason Bartlett, Tyler Buter, and George Napolitano. Of the pair of conditioners who won twice: both of Ron Burke’s were driven by Tyler Buter and both of Enrico Robinson’s were handled by Jason Bartlett.
$50,000 Weiss finals continue on Monday’s and Tuesday’s cards at Pocono, both beginning at 1 p.m.: the trotting males will have their Championship on Monday, with fillies of both gaits set to match up on Tuesday. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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