The Bettors Delight mare Bettors Up made her debut for Nick Surick a successful one, sweeping wide off cover and taking the $17,500 distaff pacing feature on the Tuesday twilight at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in 1:51.4.
Matt Kakaley guided the winner of $772,254 (one of the best of her division in her filly stakes days) into second-over position, then tipped her three wide approaching headstretch. Bettors Up, now five, paced strongly through the stretch as the 2-1 favourite to defeat the longest shot on the board, Culinary Delight N, by one-and-three-quarter lengths. Trainer Surick got control of the winner after his Nick Surick Stable LLC acquired her after her last start.
The Sportswriter mare Write Me A Song wrote herself a new mark of 1:50.1 in going wire-to-wire in the $14,000 co-featured pace. Driver Tyler Buter took control from the pole at the outset with Write Me A Song, hustling the winner of $243,777 through fractions of :26.2, :54.1, and 1:22.1 in progress to a two-and-a-half length victory for trainer Lance Hudson and owner William S. Hartt.
There will be plenty of great racing the next two cards at Pocono, with the Pennsylvania All-Stars for three-year-old colt pacers going in three divisions on Saturday, May 11 and then $30,000 contests in the Great Northeast Open Series for open trotters and open mare pacers topping the Sunday, May 12 card.
(with files from PHHA)