Louisville GB keeps impressing

WILKES-BARRE PA – The Sweet Lou mare Louisville GB keeps slugging her way up the condition ladder with a strong front-end harness racing victory in the $17,000 distaff pacing feature Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, winning in 1:53.1 with temperatures not much above freezing for the bulk of the card.

Tyler Buter, the sulky star of the day with five total visits to Victory Lane, looked to leave with Louisville GB but then backed her off until inside contention had settled itself. He put the winning GB-bred into gear at the :27.2 quarter, worked to the front and got a breather to a :57 half in a stretch headwind, then scurried to the three-quarters in 1:24.4. Buter kept his mare to mild encouragement and she was safe by 1¼ lengths at the wire over Kiss My Cheek. Robert Cleary trains the winner, now five-for-six Stateside, for Kenneth Jacobs.

LOUISVILLE GB REPLAY

Also among the overnight horses, the Chapter Seven gelding Chapolier became the first three-time winner of the meet, taking a $16,000 claiming handicap trot in 1:55.3 for driver Matt Kakaley. In his case, turnabout was the turnout – Chapolier was claimed for $25,000 by owner P T Stable and trainer Hunter Oakes last week, and this week he was haltered away again for the same price.

There were eight $12,000 divisions of the Game Of Claims Series for pacers valued at $15,000 for their first preliminary. This opening round proved to be a graveyard for favorites, as none of the eight horses most fancied by the crowd found their way back to the winner’s circle. However, drivers Jim Pantaleano, Anthony Napolitano, and Tyler Buter were successful twice in the day’s GOC action.

The fastest mile in series action came in the very first race of the day, as the Captaintreacherous gelding Shipshape shipped from The Meadows with four wins in his last six starts, but none of them higher than at a $7000 pricetag. He handled the class jump with aplomb on the front end, with the timer freezing at 1:52.2 for Pantaleano, trainer Justin Pirillo, and owner Gianna Pirillo. Not far behind in time was the Somebeachsomewhere gelding Remember The Beach, also setting a fast pace and winning in 1:52.4 for “ANap,” trainer Emily Bost, and owner James Mc Donald.

SHIPSHAPE REPLAY

Buter’s series winners were two of three GOC winners to be claimed. One was the horse now called Gentlemanjim II IR (formerly Gentlemanjim II IE), a Kikikolt gelding home first in 1:54.4 as he left the care of trainer Herbert Lux III and owners William Mullen and Carver Racing LLC; the other was the Huntsville gelding Ben Solo, winning in 1:54.2 for “old connections” trainer Matthew Medeiros and owner Jesmeral Stable. (It was Ben Solo’s second straight win; another series winner making it two straight was Trey Rockette, the Yankee Cruiser gelding victorious in 1:53.3 for driver Jim Marohn Jr., trainer Edwin Quevedo, and owner Bryan Quevedo.)

The third claimed winner was the Tellitlikeitis gelding Tellitsabb, making two big moves in a 1:53.4 win for driver Brad Irvine as he leaves trainer Lee Morris, co-owner with Mindy Repko. (In all, 11 horses were claimed from the series for $165,000, and with two “overnight trotters” claimed including Chapolier also taken, the day’s total counts were 13 and $205,000.)

The other winner for GOC driving doublers Napolitano and Pantaleano were, respectively, the Bettor’s Delight gelding Majestic Kiwi N, a bomber at $83.20 (longest price of the short season) in 1:55.3 for trainer Paul Blumenfeld and owner Jordan Schafer, and TJ’s Indy Pacer, an altered son of JK Endofanera who got home first in 1:55.1 for trainer Darren Taneyhill and owner Mark Jakubik.

Tuesday racing rejoins the Pocono basic schedule as the next card at the mountain oval with a 1 p.m. post time; there will be a carryover into the fifth race Pick 5 pool and another into the 16^th race High 5 betting. Racing then resumes on Saturday, with a $25,000 fast-class pace and six divisions of the final Game Of Claims Series preliminary, with horses valued at $30,000 this week looking to earn spots in March 15’s $35,000 series Championship – with owners looking for sharp horses likely to keep the claiming box active. 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