ANDREW MCCARTHY, BRETT PELLING DOUBLE IN POCONO STAKES
May 5
Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Purse $90,000 (3 Divisions)
WILKES-BARRE PA – Driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Brett Pelling each captured two of the three $30,000 divisions of the Pennsylvania All-Stars event for three-year-old pacing fillies, as Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania welcomed back both Pennsylvania-sired stakes racing and Sunday evening cards.
McCarthy and Pelling hooked up behind the fastest of the trio of winners, the Captaintreacherous filly Rocket Deo, who took the lead later on the first turn and set all the pace. She went on to win by 2½ lengths over pocketsitting stablemate Sweet Gal while taking a mark of 1:53.1 (the track surface, listed as “sloppy” all night, had been moved from “+1” to “+2” before this division of the stake) for Morrison Racing Stables and John Fielding.
McCarthy’s other All-Stars win came behind Flawless, another daughter of Captaintreacherous also making her seasonal debut and also looking good to defeat a resilient Bellucci by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.4. Nancy Takter trains this champion in the Kentucky program last year for Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband.
Brett Pelling’s second stakes success came after a four-horse photo finish as his son Jack piloted the Always B Miki miss Beautiful Roz to success in 1:57, with Big City Daisy, Flower Shops, and Ginger Tree Belle next in line in that order., just a nose off of the horse immediately in front of them. Beautiful Roz, unraced at two, now has five wins and two nose defeats in her burgeoning career for Melvin Segal, Kentuckiana Racing Stable, and Bud Hatfield.
Away from the stakes, deserving of a mention is the Art Major ten-year-old Tam Major A, the fastest pacer of the year at Pocono with a 1:50.2 win last week, and here home first in 1:52.3 in the off going for his fifth straight win against the track's priciest claimers -- and the fifth straight time he will be going to a different home after winning.
Tam Major A provided the meet’s leading driver Matt Kakaley with one of his four wins on the night; George Napolitano Jr., right behind Kakaley in the standings, posted three successes on the night to add to the two he achieved at Philly before heading northward.
Pocono will be in action on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, both cards with 1 p.m. starts. Free Pocono programs are or will be available at www.phha.org.
