Big weekend of stakes racing at Pocono

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania hosts the “glamour division” for North American harness racing – the three-year-old colts and geldings – with stakes races for both gaits this Saturday afternoon (May 18) and Sunday evening (May 19), both highlighting the best of the Pennsylvania-sired horses.

On Saturday afternoon there will be four divisions of the $157,776 second preliminary leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for the sophomore males, along with four $20,000 divisions of the complementary Stallion Series races.

In the Sire Stakes, there will be plenty of attention on race eight, as it will mark the debut of last year’s divisional champion, Captain Albano. A son of Captaintreacherous trained by Noel Daley for the ownership of Patricia Stable, L A Express & Sjoblom Inc. and Michael Dolan, Captain Albano went seven for nine in his two-year-old season and pulled down $445,680 in earnings, winning the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship and both events during Lexington’s Grand Circuit meeting.

He has had two qualifiers before his 2024 bow, winning in 1:52.3 – :25.3 last week, and Todd McCarthy will be driving him as he starts from the middle of a seven-horse field.

Captain Albano was second in last year’s Breeders Crown to Gem Quality, a son of Captain Crunch who starts from the outside post seven for driver Dexter Dunn in the twelfth race PaSS division. Trained by Chris Ryder for Let It Ride Stables Inc., Odds On Racing, Brad Grant, and Enviro Stables Ltd., Gem Quality already has a 2024 Pocono stakes triumph to his credit, winning a Pennsylvania All-Stars contest in 1:53 last week.

Let It Ride Stables Inc. and Odds On Racing also share ownership, with South Mountain Stables and Island Sun Stable, in Rush In, a Heston Blue Chip colt who was the fastest winner in the first Sire Stakes prelim at The Meadows two weeks ago, a 1:50.1 tally for trainer Linda Toscano. Scott Zeron will handle sulky duties behind Rush In from post one in his tenth race event.

The other division, slotted for race six, finds the two early favorites being Tenacious Hanover, another Toscano-Zeron partnership, who rebounded from an early break to be second in his PaSS race, and Solid Character, an All-Stars winner last week for driver David Miller and trainer Ron Burke.

Sunday’s evening program will feature three $30,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars race for this bracket’s trotting males, the first stakes action of the season for most of the entrants. Team Melander figures to take down a good share of the money in these events, as they have five horses entered, all coming off races at Pocono and Philly and sporting an 8-5-2-1 record among them so far.

The $1.25-million Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship card for three-year-olds will be held at Pocono during a Monday afternoon card on September 9, and many of these fast sophomores should be around to go after really big money during that program.

Free Pocono programs are or will be available at www.phha.org.

From the PHHA / Pocono Downs