The Captaintreacherous sophomore filly Marsala Hanover, one of the top members of her state class last year and this, took a new mark of 1:50 on Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
Bucking a trend on a front-end-favouring day, Marsala Hanover sat in the pocket for driver Scott Zeron when Classicist worked to the top, getting a fine journey behind fractions of :26.3, :54.4, and 1:22.2. Classicist proved a tough rival to overhaul late, but Zeron, guiding his third winner on the day, rallied the winner of $326,438 by late to post a half length decision for trainer Linda Toscano and the ownership of Let It Ride Stables Inc., Bottom Line Racing LLC, South Mountain Stables, and Little E LLC.
A trio of $15,300 contests for horses winning their way up the class ladder were the features on a Tuesday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono that turned stormy late in the card.
Mankat controlled the throttle from his rail starting position in the feature division for pacing males, posting fractions of :27.4, :56.2, and 1:23.3. Pocket-sitting Cigar Smoking Tony tried to catch him in the Pocono Pike, but Mankat was able to overcome that late threat by a neck in 1:51.2 for driver Jim Pantaleano, trainer Christen Pantaleano, and owner Matthew Morrison, who has seen his son of Somebeachsomewhere win two straight and three of his last four.
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Hunting As was the only favourite to prevail as the John Brennan Trotting Series began with four $20,000 divisions on Wednesday night (March 31) over a sloppy track at Yonkers Raceway.
Driven by Todd McCarthy, Hunting As worked a pocket trip behind Halo Its Me in the third flight, and watched as that foe clicked fractions of :30.2, 1:00.1, and 1:28.3. Halo Its Me was still in command as they turned into the stretch, but McCarthy had Hunting As finishing well two-wide to then surge by the pacesetter on his way to a one-and-a-quarter length decision in 1:57.3. Blue And Bold finished third after sitting on the inside in fourth.