All three divisions of the $180,855 third preliminary round of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for two-year-old pacing colts at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono saw their winners take lifetime bests of 1:52 over off going, with Adriano Hanover perfect after three PaSS events and driver Matt Kakaley engineering upsets in the other two divisions.

The Western Ideal – A and G’sconfusion colt Adriano Hanover had little trouble in winning his division as the heavy favorite, moving after the :27.2 quarter, making the lead well before the :56 half, and then passing the three-quarters in 1:24.1 before dashing home to post a 2½ length victory over Manticore. Adriano Hanover is now undefeated in five purse st... more...

Driver Daniel Dube and assistant trainer Mickey Burke had but one plan going into the $200,000 Prix d’Ete Grand Circuit Stake at the Hippodrome 3R Sunday, go to the front no matter what.

And that is exactly what Dube did and This Is The Plan was up to the task as the 4-year-old gelding by Somebeachsomewhere wired the field and rewrote the all-age track record with an amazing 1:49.1 triumph.

This Is The Plan’s only challenge came from rival Jimmy Freight (Louis Philippe Roy), who after a :26.2 first quarter, came first-over and challenged This Is The Plan to the half in :54.4 with The Downtown Bus (Doug McNair) second over and Done Well (Bob McClure) sitting the pocket trip.

The te... more...

Driver Mario Baillargeon sent P L Jill first over past the half and dug into tempo-setter Dream Together through the mile, edging to a neck victory in the final strides of the $75,000 Earl Rowe Memorial Trot at Georgian Downs on Sunday, Aug. 18.

Muscles For Life left for the top but yielded to sit on a helmet as Dream Together overtook command past a :27.2 first quarter. Baillargeon then pulled P L Jill from third moving towards a :56.4 half to race alongside the pacesetter up the backside.

Dream Together and P L Jill sped clear of Muscles For Life heading towards three-quarters in 1:24.1 while Run Director veered three wide to take over third around the final turn but go on a gallop soon aft... more...

The Ready Cash colt Ready For Moni stalked the speed for the first half of the mile and then pounced on the final turn, surging to a four-length victory to trot the fastest mile of the three $30,000 Kentucky Sires Stakes (KYSS) divisions for two-year-old trotting colts on Sunday, Aug. 18 at The Red Mile.

The Per Engblom trainee sat in the pocket to a :27.4 first quarter while Father Figure protected position from the pylons to lead briefly. Hit Show parked when trying to take the lead around the first turn but promptly ducked to fourth as Father Figure maintained his speed towards a :56.2 half.

Ready For Moni pulled from the pocket rounding the final turn and edged past the pacesetter after t... more...

Big favorites Shartin N (Tim Tetrick) and McWicked (Brian Sears) each captured stakes victories to highlight the fabulous card at Tioga Downs on Sunday (August 18).

In the $137,000 Artiscape open mare pace, Shartin N ($2.10) went to the front just before hitting the first quarter in :25.3.  She would slow the pace down using a :29.0 second quarter to hit the half in :54.3.  Seaswift Joy N (Brian Sears) went first over and put on the pressure as Shartin N led to three-quarters in 1:22.

Shartin N, who is trained by Jim King Jr. for owners Rich Poillucci, Jo-Anne Looney-King, and Tim Tetrick LLC., turned for home with a length lead.  Seaswift Joy N made one late charge but Shartin N was too s... more...

Driver Art Stafford Jr. notched the 2,000th win of his career when he piloted Happy That ($7.20) to a 1:56.3 victory in Sunday afternoon's (Aug. 18) ninth race at Harrah's Philadelphia.

Happy That, a 4-year-old son of Muscle Hill trained by Martin Davis for owner Jeffrey Startt, made a first-over push from third up the backstretch to reel in and overpower early pacesetter Sleek N Majestic on the far turn. Happy That won the $14,000 conditioned trotting event by 1-1/2 lengths over the late-rallying E Ell Cruze.

Stafford, who began driving in 1984 and competes primarily on the Delaware circuit, is in the midst of his fourth consecutive season in which he has surpassed $1 million in purs... more...

The freshman trotters of the Maine Sire Stakes program reached the mid-way point of their eight race season on Sunday (8/18) and as both the fillies and colts duked it out on the half-mile oval at Scarborough Downs, driver Heath Campbell, with two stakes win on the program, was proven the most prodigious pugilist of them all.

A scant field of four Maine-breds answered the call for the colt and geldings division, requiring an early non-betting event to be conducted for a generous $9448 purse offering.  

All four trotters came to the races with their maiden status firmly intact and three of them left labeled the same, but it was Cashes Ledge (Noble Venture-Rhonwen) who rolled on in confident... more...