WILKES-BARRE PA – The John Simpson Sr. Memorial Stakes continued Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs in Mohegan Pennsylvania, featuring three $30,000 harness racing divisions of both the Hardie Hanover for three-year-old pacing fillies and the Super Bowl for two-year-old trotting males.
Pocono’s all-time leading driver, George Napolitano Jr., won two of the Hardie Hanover’s three divisions, including the fastest split, a 1:51 win with the Dad Rob Hanover Miss Gigglingonthebeach. On a cool day with a stiff headwind that left only two of fourteen winners leading at each call, Gigglingonthebeach had “1”s right across her line, beating two-holer Send It Down Slim by a margin for trainer Juan Cano and Hot Lead Farm, giving “Giggling” another Pocono stakes win in addition to her victory in the Lynch Consolation I.
GIGGGING ON THE BEACH REPEAT
“George Nap” also won a Hardie Hanover split with the Captain treacherous filly Jordanna Hanover, who posted a lifetime score of 1:52.3 despite having to overcome a raw :56.1 performance in the final half. She won by two lengths over the horse on her back, Calamity Hour, for trainer Tom Fanning and Fanning Racing LLC, consisting of himself and his wife Moira, who is competing in the Breeders Crown Championships this week.
A victory in Hardie Hanover’s stakes meant a lot to the trainer of the other winner, Time Of The Season, as conditioner Tim Twaddle drove Hardie Hanover to many victories in top competition for trainer John Burns during the honoree’s racing career. Here Time Of The Season followed a wind-assisted third quarter of :26.2 to move up behind leader Fanville, eventually coming through that filly with the shortest betting margin of the day, half a length, in 1:51.4 for Birnam Wood Farms.
Pocono’s leading driver Tyler Buter provided Time Of The Season, and in a perhaps not-so-strange situation, the six stakes were won by George Napolitano Jr. (second leading driver at both Pocono and Philly), Buter (who had four wins on the day) and Philly’s leading sulkysitter, Tim Tetrick.
Buter’s victory in the Super Bowl was the basis of the Six pack – That Woman Hanover colt Nordic Dancer S, who took the lead early and then set a new score of 1:56.1 to beat Beer In My Hand by 2¼ lengths due to Flygind Gaard Inc. ownership.
NORDIC DANCER’S REPEAT
Nordic Dancer S is trained by Åke Svanstedt, who also sent out the 1-2 finishers in one of the two divisions of Tim Tetrick’s baby stakes. The colorful one Captain Corey – Via Lattea IT stallion Nebbiolo had the winning margin with the biggest effort of the day, 4½ lengths, when he took Campanzia (who suffered from interference in the far turn) for Knutsson Trotting Inc.
Tetrick and father Captain Corey continued the “doubling down” theme that was so prevalent in Tuesday’s stakes with Captain Jordan, who was the other horse to turn every stake into a winning stake in the fastest baby trotting stakes division, 1:56. Two lengths back was the 56-1 longshot Storm Hanover, who made a nice rally but could not catch Scott Di Domenico’s trainee, who co-owns Di Domenico’s Triple D Stables Inc. with Joe Faraldo.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the $112.40 disruption caused by The Bizzness N in the second race. It was notable because the talent behind the horse was Tyler Buter, the race’s leading rider, and the race’s leading trainer, Ron Burke – and for Burke it was his third $50+ “bomber” of the race, making him the season leader.
The next two race cards at Pocono, Saturday and Monday (both at 1 p.m.), each feature a pair of Simpson Stakes: Saturday for second-year colts, the Albatross for pacers and the Ayres for trotters, and Monday for first-year fillies, the Davidia Hanover for trotters and the Razzle Hanover for pacers. The four bets offer a combined amount of $283,210. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.pha.org.
For full race results, click here: American trotting results.
From the PHHA/Pocono Downs
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