Pocono Preview

As Pacingguy mentioned in another blog post, he's been rather busy with other business so...I'm back again.  Let's get to a few of the races at the speedway called Pocono shall we...

Race 5 the Sebastian K Invitational Trot:  That didn't take long, how do we have a race named after Sebastian K already?  Shouldn't there be a mourning period or something before we start naming races after horses still alive?  Now that I feel better, a couple of things to note:  JC is reunited with JL Cruze but can we trust that John is only rusty?  You have a couple of races prior to see if you can get a clue about the wrist.  The other thing I should mention, why is Dave Miller off Wind Of The North?  Can the Allard factor be that powerful or is Bier just looking for a different set of hands?  It could be Palone got a two for one deal and Miller couldn't do both?  It might not matter if the Cruze is the CRUZE.  If I had to pick an upsetter, I'll take a flyer with Natural Herbie.  I love the post and Herbie can go along way parked.  It's up to Yoder to get him in position at the head of the stretch.

Race 9 the U. S. T. A. Invitational Pace:  For 50k, there must bigger fish to fry somewhere else because this is far, far away from a stellar field of Invitational horses.  That being said, somebody has to win.  The new star in the Invitational ranks is none other than Always At My Place...who, what?  His last race at Poco was freaky good, and I mean freaky, first up and under wraps smoking home.  Can somebody steal a half and park him?  Maybe Great Vintage but, if I was Matt (obviously not), I'd just go down the road and get it over with.  Are you reading Matt?

Race 10 the Valley Forge for 3yo pacing fillies:  Flash back to Hambo day and what I said about the 3yo pacing fillies, they don't like to win two races in a row so, that might change tonight if Moma gets her way on the front end.  Bettor Be Steppin could throw that strategy out the window if Corey has her forwardly placed, as usual.  Beware, both The Show and Moonlit get their best buddies back so that could be trouble.

Race 11 the Colonial 3yo Open Trot:  I must be crazy to try to beat Pinkman but that's what I try to do...when the same trainer has FIVE horses in the same race.  Since that is case, what does a driver do when they see the boss in their rear view mirror?  Why you let him go on and take a two hole trip, of course.  That's if Burke's Crazy Wow doesn't want to play hardball early on, which could happen and be suicide since Wow has been known to lose his mind on occasion.  This race could get real interesting if the Takter horses don't follow company lines or be a Takter snoozer, only time will tell.

Race 12 the Brandywine 3yo Pacing Open:  Oh boy, Wiggles has the rail and a ton of speed so race over...right?  Probably so but if the race goes western (not sure where that terminology started?), Split The House has to have a big shot at upsetting the apple cart.  That last half at the M was one of the fastest of the meet, if not the fastest.  I wonder why Randy didn't come down?  Yes, the Dude was running over Wiggle It at the 3/4's but this race should set up much differently, that is if it doesn't go western???

Why did the Meadows get Mission Brief last night?  Just a thought.  Another thought is, while these big purse races will steal the headlines, the real money could be made in a few of the many consolation races on the card.  I hope that not too many of those races get too western, or crazy, or upset the apple cart, etc.  Enjoy....