Many of harness racing’s brightest stars will gather at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono this Saturday (June 29) for the Sun Stakes Saturday card.
Four stakes worth a combined $1.8 million headline the 14-race card, with three $75,000 consolations and a $75,000 Great Northeast Open Series trotting event serving as supporting events.
$500,000 Earl Beal Three-Year-Old Trot
Only eight horses who qualified in last week's eliminations entered: Reign Of Honor, who dead-heated for fourth to earn a spot, did not drop in for the Earl Beal final.
The pair of trotters from the Marcus Melander stable who won the Beal eliminations, Green Manalishi S and Greenshoe, drew posts one and two, respectively.
Greenshoe is undefeated in three seasonal starts, including a 1:50.2 win at The Meadowlands. The son of Father Patrick, owned by Courant Inc., Hans Backe, Lars Granqvist and Morten Langli, trotted his own last half in :54.4 in a 1:52.3 Beal elimination victory. Greenshoe may not have to flirt with his sire's 1:50.2 world record in the division, but he seems to be still improving as he will go on Saturday from post two for driver Brian Sears.
His stablemate Green Manalishi S actually won the faster Beal elimination in 1:52.1, but he rallied into a fast pace. Still, it was the seasonal debut for the Muscle Hill colt owned by Courant Inc. He figures to be even better Saturday, and could maintain his record of never being worse than second lifetime (six wins and five seconds) as he goes from the rail for driver Tim Tetrick.
$500,000 Ben Franklin Free-For-All Pace
Western Fame, the early-season sensation of the Levy Series at Yonkers, returned after a seven-week respite and immediately showed he hadn’t lost a thing, winning his Franklin elimination in 1:48.1 to tie Max Hempt elimination winner Proof as the fastest pacer on a five-eighths-mile track this year. The son of Western Fame, trained by Pocono’s leading conditioner Rene Allard for Go Fast Stable, Steven Klunowski, B & I Stables LLC and Gil Short, has drawn post four for the Franklin, with Rene’s brother Simon driving.
The other Franklin elimination saw McWicked, defending Horse of the Year and Franklin champion, sent off as the favourite, and while he did make the lead on the far turn, he then uncharacteristically tired a bit and finished third. The winner of $3,922,656 had raced only twice in the previous 42 days, and he may be more his usual resilient self this time out, with Brian Sears in the sulky for trainer Casie Coleman from post one.
The winner of that elimination was the fast four-year-old Lather Up, who set the pace, looked defeated on the turn, but came back to gain the victory. Post seven will be no help to the son of Im Gorgeous, who campaigns for trainer Clyde Francis and driver Montrell Teague.
$500,000 Max C. Hempt Three-Year-Old Pace
Proof showed a return to top form while winning his Hempt elimination in 1:48.1, tying with Western Fame as the fastest pacer on a five-eighths-mile track this season. The son of A Rocknroll Dance, trained by Brian Brown for Diamond Creek Racing, was right at the top of his class through much of 2018, and the sharp victory last week makes him the central figure in this race as he begins from post two for driver David Miller.
The other two Hempt elimination winners were not very fortunate at the post draw: Shake That House drew post seven for trainer Chris Oakes and driver Brian Sears, while Captain Victorious will have to start just outside Shake That House for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke.
$300,000 James Lynch Three-Year-Old Filly Pace
The Sweet Lou filly Warrawee Ubeaut became the fastest two-year-old of all-time with a 1:48.3 victory at Lexington, and last week she re-established herself as the leader of the sophomore filly class with a dominating :26 last quarter at the conclusion of her 1:50.2 Lynch elimination win. The Ron Burke trainee, owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Phil Collura and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, will certainly not get to set a lax pace here, but from post one, Yannick Gingras has a good chance of working out a reasonable trip for Warrawee Ubeaut.
Both the other elimination winners, both members of the Tony Alagna barn, went faster than Warrawee Ubeaut: Odds On St Lucie (1:49.4, post six, driver Dexter Dunn listed) and Tall Drink Hanover (1:50, post nine, driver Andrew McCarthy), and must be respected, as must another Alagna trainee in Treacherous Reign (post five, also with Dunn listed), who upset Warrawee Ubeaut in Toronto two weeks ago.
$75,000 Great Northeast Open Series Trot
Hannelore Hanover, 2017 Horse of the Year, has had one great start in 2019 (a 1:50.3 win at Woodbine Mohawk Park) and two subpar ones. She looks to regain equilibrium in this Great Northeast contest starting from post one for trainer Ron Burke and driver Yannick Gingras. She will find a tough opponent in Rich And Miserable (post five, trainer Todd Buter, driver Tyler Buter), who has won six races in a row — four of them at Pocono — and the most recent two in 1:51.3, the fastest trotting miles of the year at Pocono.
First post for the Sun Stakes Saturday card, which will include an appearance by all-time great quarterback Dan Marino before the races, is scheduled for 7 p.m.
(PHHA/Pocono)