Pencils Down grabs another rung of class ladder

Climbing up the ladder of success for her third straight start, Pencils Down (Royalty For Life) was able to easily handle a field of six rivals in capturing the $17,000 feature trot at Pocono Downs Saturday (Oct. 14) afternoon.

Competing over a sloppy, rain-soaked track with a two-second allowance by the Judges in the 8^th race main event, it was a battle for control of the lead from the start.

Chake (Braxten Boyd) was first on the lead off the starting gate but was challenged immediately by the opening quarter mile by Ap Hall Of Trix (John Kakaley), followed second-over by Pencils Downs and driver George Napolitano, Jr.

Ap Hall Of Trix cleared to the lead after a :28.2 first quarter and then Pencils Down passed her by to take command before the half mile marker in :57.4. Going to the half mile, Chake came first-over to challenge, but broke stride at the three-quarters in 1:27.2.

From there Pencils Downs held the field at bay and went on to win by two and one-quarter lengths in 1:56.4. Ap Hall Of Trix was second with Slave Labour (Marcus Miller) third.

PENCILS DOWN REPLAY

It was the third straight win and fifth victory of the season for Pencils Downs. The four-year-old mare is trained by Jeff Cullipher for Pollack Racing, LLC of Venetia, PA and she paid $2.40 to win as the wagering favorite.

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

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink