Smart As Hill Gives Bob McClure His Second Crown Elim Win
WILKES-BARRE PA – Before the Breeders Crown eliminations at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono started Friday night, Ontario driver Bob McClure had never participated in the prestigious championship series.
Now he’s won two Crown races – Champagne Jane in the filly trot and then the Muscle Hill – Smarty Pants colt Smart As Hill in the colt trot. Both horses rallied from far back, and both horses were lightly-regarded, with Smart As Hill returning $36.80.
McClure kept the winner of $105,491 along the inside behind fractions of 27.1, 56.1, and 1:24.2 set by Green Manilishi S, then swung wide at headstretch and generated tremendous speed in the last sixteenth, getting past the pacesetter in the last 100 feet to take a new mark of 1:53.4. Green Manilishi S, Super Schissel, and Trix And Stones were next in line behind the three-time winner, who is trained by Paula Wellwood of Marion Marauder fame and owned by Dreamville Stable and Steve Organ.