Svanstedt dominance continues in Simpson Stakes

Harness racing trainer Ake Svanstedt ran his winning streak to nine on Wednesday (Oct. 17) in John Simpson Sr. Memorial races this week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania by winning three out of three races in which his trainees were entered for the third straight day.

There were three Simpson divisions held on Wednesday (Oct. 18) for both the two-year-old trotting fillies (The Davidia Hanover at $42,970 per split) and the two-year-old pacing fillies (The Razzle Hanover at $35,000 per pop).

Svanstedt won six Simpson races without a loss at Pocono on Monday and Tuesday as driver and trainer.

On Wednesday, he handed driving duties over to Matt Kakaley, the leading driver in 2023 at Pocono, and the success continued in the two-year-old trotting filly class. Southwind Banshee (Muscle Hill) won the first split in 1:56:4, and She Shaq (Southwind Frank) nosed out her stablemate Up All Night Hanover to win in 1:55:3. It came down to Duchamp S (Father Patrick) in the final division, and Kakaley coaxed her home to get her maiden win in 1:57:4.

In other stakes action, driver Tim Tetrick took two of the three Simpson races for two-year-old pacing fillies on Wednesday. Tetrick scored with Donegal Spirit (Captaintreacherous), trained by Andrew Harris, in 1:53:1, and with Lyons Legend (Stay Hungry), trained by Jim King Jr, in 1:52:1. Hunting Hula (Huntsville), trained by Bruce Lauer and driven by Pat Lachance, won the remaining Simpson division for 2-year-old pacing fillies in 1:54:3.

Simpson action concludes on Saturday at Pocono. There are 14 races on the Pocono Saturday afternoon card, with a first post time of 1:00 PM Eastern.

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

by Jim Beviglia, for Pocono Downs