Bigtown Hero sweeps to Pocono feature victory

WILKES-BARRE PA — Bigtown Hero and harness racing driver Jim Morrill Jr. used well-timed sweeping tactics to notch a 1:50.1 triumph despite near-freezing temperatures in the $30,000 Open pace at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Saturday night.

 

Morrill laid off a fiercely-contested front end with the American Ideal gelding, then made a big three-wide move nearing the final turn to swoop to the lead midturn and open up an insurmountable advantage. Still the world record holder for older pacing geldings on an "f" track by virtue of a 1:47.3 triumph here last year, Bigtown Hero is trained by Rene Allard for Allard Racing Inc. and Yves Sarrazin.

 

 

In other news, R Gauwitz Hanover, perhaps the most popular claiming pacer of all-time, changed hands after his 13th straight race when the Verrazano Stables LLC put up the $25,000 price to take ownership from Rene Allard. For owner/trainer Allard Saturday, R Gauwitz Hanover won for the 10th time in his last 11 races, moving to the lead after the quarter for driver George Napolitano Jr. and winning in 1:51.1 to give Allard two feature wins.

 

Here's a summary of the remarkable last four months for R Gauwitz Hanover. And though he keeps changing homes, one thing has remained fairly constant — since July 25, George Napolitano Jr. has been tapped to drive every week.

 

Trainer Rene Allard had five wins and driver George Napolitano Jr. had four wins