Idle Hour upsets Dali in PASS

Unperturbed by 1-9 favorite Dali leaving inside him, Idle Hour saved his brush for the stretch to produce a stunning upset--and a stakes record--in a division of the $126,140 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for 2-year-old colt pacers on Thursday night at The Meadows.

The stake, known as the Albatross, was contested over six divisions, with Moon Beam, Truponder, Ruff Dragon, Swingbatterbatter and The Iceman Came taking the other splits. George Teague Jr. scored a training triple with Idle Hour, Moon Beam and The Iceman Came.

But Idle Hour and driver Randy Tharps had other ideas. Still five lengths behind at the top of the stretch, the 15-1 longshot unleashed a powerful drive that carried him to a 1 3/4-length victory over Dali, with Blueridge Western finishing third.

The son of Dragon Again stopped the timer in 1:53.3, eclipsing the previous stake record of 1:54.1 established by Cookerosa and Toby Lynch in 2005.

“There was no chance I was going to pull first over on the favorite,” Tharps said. “When I tipped him, he felt good, and he responded when I called on him. He had a lot of finish.”

Teague, Inc. owns Idle Hour, who was making his pari-mutuel debut.

Idle Hour's stablemate Moon Beam was nearly as swift, prevailing in 1:53.4. Rock N Roll Pan was six lengths back in second, with He's Done It All earning show money. It was an effortless, wire-to-wire score for the son of Dragon Again, who was coming off an impressive rallying victory in the Goshen Cup.

“He's a gorgeous animal to look at and a beautiful horse to race,” said winning driver Dave Palone, who scored a double in the Albatross. “You can put him anywhere you want. He's a driver's dream, really. He went through the wire with a bow in his neck because I never turned him loose.”

Brenda Teague, Montrell Teague, Rodney Mitchell and James Bernstein own Moon Beam.

Truponder, a homebred for Kalman Saul Liebowitz, pounced from the pocket in the lane and went on to score in 1:54.3 by 1 1/4 lengths over Fly High, with Oaks Hanover fading to third.

Winning trainer Dylan Davis said the son of The Panderosa always has shown speed but only recently developed a winning approach.

“He's quick, he's wonderfully gaited, and he's better at finishing than anything,” Davis said. “His attitude is getting better. We had a little to work on, but he's definitely getting better, more aggressive. I think he's starting to want to do this.”

Although Truponder had only qualifiers on his card entering the Albatross, winning driver Luc Ouellette said precocious youngsters no longer surprise him.

“Every year you find out that these colts are, more and more, natural athletes,” Ouellette said. “They do it without putting in a lot of effort.” (The Meadows)

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