Sweet Lou gelding takes pacing feature at Pocono

WILKES-BARRE PA — $15,000 was on the line in each of the three harness racing features conducted Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.

Two of the highlighted races were for developing horses, one on each gait. In the pace, the Sweet Lou gelding Yankee Clout was sent right to the lead for Team Whelan – driver Michael and trainer Walter – and went coast-to-coast, fending off late-charger and pocketsitting favorite Captain Caveman by a neck. Yankee Clout reduced his mark three full seconds to 1:52.2 with the triumph for owner Christopher Nicol.

YANKEE CLOUT REPLAY

In the conditioned trotting feature, the Chapter Seven gelding It Wasn’t Me, fresh off a triumph in the NY Excelsior final, made a quick midrace move to the top and stayed in control from there, with longshot pocketsitter Shiny New Penny doing well to stay within a length at the wire in the 1:55 mile. Matt Kakaley drove the winner for trainer Michelle Warner and owner Big Sky Ranch.

IT WASN’T ME REPLAY

The other feature was for high-priced claiming trotters in a handicap event. The winner, the Triumphant Caviar mare Allsummerlong AS, had to overcome the rough tuck-then-first-over trip, but her determination carried her past another favorite, the pacesetting Jive Ninety Five, by a half length in 1:56. Braxten Boyd drove the Jenny Melander-trained winner for owner Jose Cervantes.

For the second straight day at Pocono the statistics were uprooted from the norm; on Tuesday back-to-back longshots Space Cadebt ($71.60) and Barn Credit ($75.20) both overcame post eight. In fact, post eight, normally with a win rate of 7.9%, generated a rate of 50% today, as five of the ten starters from the outermost spot were successful (and another was second). In contrast, the chalk normally clicks at 44.5% at the mountain oval, but today the three favored winners represented only a 21.4% success ratio.

Anthony Napolitano and Jim Pantaleano recorded driving triples Tuesday.

Racing resumes at Pocono Saturday with a solid card from top to bottom, the best example being the tenth race $18,500 fast-class handicap pace feature, with four of the eight entrants coming off of wins below 1:50 in their last start.

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