Longshots abound at Pocono

WILKES-BARRE PA – Robert Michael advanced in a moving cover flow midrace, went three-wide when his cover faltered on the turn, then continued his surge to take the $15,500 trotting feature at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon while lowering his mark to 1:55.1.

An altered son of Crazy Wow owned by Robert Weinstein and trained by Richard Johnson, the only conditioning doubler on the card, Robert Michael got away sixth, then moved closer down the backstretch to the favored pacesetter Santa Cristina, who passed the poles in :28.2, :57.1, and 1:26.2. Continuing his advancement from three-wide into the stretch, Robert Michael finally reached the pacesetter late and surged by to win by a neck under the guidance of Ridge Warren.

ROBERT MICHAEL REPLAY

In one of two $14,500 co-features for improving pacers, the Cattlewash sophomore gelding Expedited Service, second choice in the betting, loafed his way on the engine to the half in :58, then burst home in :54.2 to leave favored Notorious Hanover 1¼ lengths behind and lower his mark to 1:52.2. George Napolitano Jr. drove the three-year-old for trainer Richard Johnson and owner Guy Gemore.

The other co-feature continued the “where did that one come from?” trend that has had a recent grip on the local pari-mutuel action. Smooch In The Dark (61-1) and Captivated (49-1) sat two-three along the inside as quick fractions were argued, then found stretch clearance, with Smooch In The Dark grabbing the lead in early stretch and withstanding the horse behind him by three parts of a length in a new mark of 1:53 for driver James Kennedy and owner/trainer Geovany Hernandez. (There wasn’t even a straight Trifecta ticket sold on this race — the payoff was on “1-2-all”, and the race generated the third Superfecta carryover of the day.)

How Smooch In The Dark could return $125.20 to win while taking his third victory in his last four starts is one matter, but the large increase of rank outsiders winning at The Downs is making a few players very happy and the rest scratching their heads. With Duckies Dynasty ($55.20) having taken an earlier race, Tuesday marked the second straight day that a pair of $50+ winners lit up the Pocono board, and since Pocono came back from its track refurbishment on September 20 (six cards), no fewer than seven “bombers” have led to pari-mutuel carryovers galore.

George Napolitano Jr. and Ridge Warren each had three victories on the card to top the sulky colony.

Racing returns to the mountain oval on Saturday at 1 p.m., when there will be a double carryover into the fifth race Pick 5 wager and a single carryover into the fourth race Pick 3 – not surprising given the many surprise finishes over the Pocono surface recently. Monday and Tuesday programs at 1 p.m. complete Pocono’s fall basic schedule. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From the PHHA / Pocono Downs