The John Simpson Sr. Memorial Stakes continued on Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, with three $30,000 divisions of both the Hardie Hanover for 3-year-old pacing fillies and the Super Bowl for 2-year-old trotting males.
Pocono's all-time leading driver George Napolitano Jr. won two of the three divisions of the Hardie Hanover, including the fastest split, a 1:51 victory with the Papi Rob Hanover miss Gigglingonthebeach. On a cool day with a stiff stretch headwind that saw only two of 14 winners have the lead at every call, Gigglingonthebeach had "1"s straight across her line, defeating two-holer Send It Down Slim by a length for trainer Juan Cano and Hot Lead Farm, giving "Giggling" another Pocono stakes triumph to go alongside her win in the Lynch Consolation I.
"George Nap" also won a Hardie Hanover split with the Captaintreacherous filly Jordanna Hanover, who set a lifetime mark of 1:52 3/5 despite having to overcome going raw in a 56 1/5 last-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 busy with the Breeders Crown Championships this week.
A win in the Hardie Hanover stake meant a great deal 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 paced a wind-aided 26 2/5 third quarter to go up after leader Fansville, finally getting by that game filly by the shortest stakes margin of the day, a half-length, in 1:51 4/5 for Birnam Wood Farms.
Tyler Buter, Pocono's leading driver, handled Time Of The Season, and in a maybe-not-so-odd situation, the six stakes were won by George Napolitano Jr. (second-leading driver at both Pocono and Philly), Buter (who had four victories on the day), and Philly's leading sulky-sitter, Tim Tetrick.
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Buter's win in the Super Bowl was behind the Six Pack-That Woman Hanover colt Nordic Dancer S, who moved to the lead early, then set a new mark of 1:56 1/5 in defeating Beer In My Hand by 2 1/4 lengths for the ownership of Flygind Gaard Inc.
Nordic Dancer S is trained by Ake Svanstedt, who also sent out the 1-2 finishers in one of the two divisions of the baby stakes taken by Tim Tetrick. The piebald Captain Corey-Via Lattea IT colt Nebbiolo had the largest stakes winning margin of the day, 4 1/2 lengths, as he defeated Campanzia (who suffered far turn interference) for Knutsson Trotting Inc.
Tetrick and sire Captain Corey continued the "doubling up" theme so prevalent in the Tuesday stakes with Captain Jordan, who was the other horse to make every pole a winning one in the fastest baby trot stake division, 1:56. Two lengths back was 56-1 longshot Storm Hanover, who rallied nicely but could not catch the Scott Di Domenico trainee, who is co-owned by Di Domenico's Triple D Stables Inc. along with Joe Faraldo.
We would be remiss if not mentioning the $112.40 upset pulled off by The Bizzness N in the second race. It was noteworthy in that the talent behind the horse was the meet's leading driver Tyler Buter and the meet's leading trainer Ron Burke - and for Burke it was his third $50+ "bomber" of the meet, tying him for the seasonal lead.
The next two cards of racing at Pocono, Saturday and Monday (both at 1 p.m. EDT), will each feature a pair of Simpson Stakes: Saturday's for sophomore colts and geldings, the Albatross for pacers and the Ayres for trotters, and Monday's for 2-year-old fillies, the Davidia Hanover for trotters and the Razzle Hanover for pacers. The four stakes will offer combined purses of $283,210.
--press release (PHHA/Pocono)--