Northeast Pennsylvania will undoubtedly be the centre of the harness racing world this Saturday night, as Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs offers a spectacular card, with the $500,000 Earl Beal Memorial Trot for three-year-old colts.
The Beal eliminations took place last week and featured two of the fastest trotting miles in global harness racing this season.
On Saturday, the Beal Memorial will be joined by elimination races for the following Saturday’s Ben Franklin Pace (Free for All horses), Max Hempt Memorial Pace (three-year-old colts), and Jim Lynch Memorial Pace (three-year-old fillies).
The Beal Memorial is marqueed by Googoo Gaagaa, a son of Cams Rocket who set a divisional World Record of 1:51.3 in his elim while winning by seven lengths; and Stormin Normand, the Broadway Hall colt and defending PA Sire Stakes champion whose 1:51.4 triumph last week would have been a World Record had it come 40 minutes earlier (that is, before Googoo Gaagaa hit the track). In Saturday’s rematch (Race 12 on the sixteen-race card), Stormin Normand got a bit of an edge in the positional draw (he drew Post 4) for Hall of Fame driver Dave Palone, trainer Jim Campbell, and breeder/owner Jules Siegel. Googoo Gaagaa will have to overcome Post 6 (which he did last week) for driver Corey Callahan and owner/trainer Richard Hans.
Not to be dismissed is Uncle Peter, the 2011 Breeders Crown winner who thunderbolted home last week to just miss by a half-length to Stormin Normand. The Cantab Hall colt, owned by Jim and John Fielding, Christine Takter, and Falkbolagen AB, will begin from Post 7 for driver Ron Pierce as part of a three-horse entry trained by Jimmy Takter. The other two entrymates are Nothing But Class (PP2, Jimmy Takter) and Little Brown Fox (PP8, Yannick Gingras).
The first four finishers and the fastest fifth-place finisher from last week gained entrance to the Beal Memorial, and the same rules will be used in the Lynch Memorial and Franklin, which also have two elims. The final of the Hempt, which will require three elims, will find the top three from each of Saturday’s contests advancing.
The second Franklin elim (Race 9) looks to be the tougher of the two. It is headlined by Foiled Again. The iron-sided altered son of Dragon Again, owned by trainer Ron Burke in partnership with Weaver Bruscemi and the JJK Stables, has hit the board in all ten starts this year, and the horse who knows no reverse gear will be guided from Post 4 by Yannick Gingras.
This group also includes We Will See (PP3, Ron Pierce), whose all-age record 1:48 at Pocono last September ties for the fastest mile ever on a five-eighths-mile track and who also is the defending Franklin champion, and Golden Receiver (PP9, Brian Sears).
In another Franklin elim (Race 7), much of the attention will focus on Clear Vision (PP4, Matt Kakaley) and Bettor Sweet (PP7, John Campbell).
A Lynch elimination (Race 11), which will house a field of seven, will be headlined by the Jimmy Takter-trained and Brittany Farms-owned American Jewel (PP4, Tim Tetrick.
The other Lynch elim (Race 3) may hinge on which Sarandon Blue Chip shows up at Pocono --- the one who was super-impressive winning at the Meadowlands Racetrack three weeks ago, or the one who was rough-gaited and missed out on the finale of the Fan Hanover Stakes. 'Sarandon' will try to bounce back from Post 5 for driver David Miller, with the major danger looking to come from Major Look (PP2, Jeff Gregory) who won in 1:50.1 at Tioga in her last start.
For the Hempt, the first elim is Race 5, where I Fought Dalaw, like Sarandon Blue Chip, will look to bounce back from a subpar performance at Mohawk Racetrack after having sported strong Meadowlands form. David Miller will guide I Fought Dalaw from Post 2.
Also trying to shake off bad Mohawk luck will be Hurrikane Kingcole, who will start from Post 3 for Tim Tetrick in the second elimination (Race 10). The 'King' miscued at the start of his North America Cup elim, but was officially timed in a mind-blowing 1:18.3 for his final three-quarters after repairing his error.
The third Hempt group, in Race 13, pulls together many horses with great credentials: Bolt The Duer (PP2, Mark MacDonald), A Rocknroll Dance (PP4, Yannick Gingras) and Allstar Legend (PP7, Brian Sears).
For more information regarding entries, click here.
(With files from the PHRC)