Matt Kakaley wins three at Pocono

Matt Kakaley collected three wins at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Friday (April 9) and pushed his season total  to 13 at the five-eighths mile oval.

In the $30,000 claiming pace for horses, colts and geldings, Kakaley drove No. 1 Pocket Driver N to his first victory of the 2010 season, stopping the timer in 1:53.4 on a cold windy night with snow flurries in the air.

Redstone Ruckus (George Napolitano Jr.) left quickly from the nine hole to take the lead with Pocket Driver N sitting second. However, Kakaley didn’t want to sit and quickly went after Redstone Ruckus to become the new leader before the half and the two horses went 1-2 the rest of the race with Beretta all (Matt Romano) finishing third.
Steve Salerno trains Pocket Driver, a winner for the first time in 12 starts in 2010.

Meanwhile, the $20,000 claiming trot was won by No. 8 Brighten Up, coming from behind as an 8-1 longshot to also win by several lengths over Kennans Kelli (Pat Berry) with Blissful Lil finishing third. Time of the trot was 1:56.1 with Mike Micallef in the sulky.
This was the second win in six starts for Brighten Up, claimed April 2 by trainer Jim Raymer.

Jim Morrill Jr. and Mike Simons each collected driving doubles through the first 13 races of the 15-race card. (Pocono)