Pocono: 2023 live racing season set to kick off February 18

Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun Pennsylvania will be welcoming the trotters and pacers back to the northeast Pennsylvania oval for its 58th season in the next couple of weeks.

The first "day of action" at Pocono will be this Friday, February 10, when qualifiers on Monday, February 13 will be drawn. There will be a 90-day entry rule in place at the start of the Pocono meeting. The next week will see The Downs quickly shifting into full gear:

--Monday (2/13) will be the first draw of the season, for the following Saturday (2/18) initial 2023 card, and it will also be declaration day for a set of qualifiers to be held the next day (2/14).

--Tuesday (2/14) will have the qualifiers mentioned just above, and it will also be draw day for the second seasonal card, to be held on Sunday (2/19). Pocono's post time will be at 1 p.m. throughout February and March; the only change for the season after that will come on Sundays in April through August, when first post will be 6 p.m.

--Wednesday (2/15) is the last nomination day for promising 3-year-olds to declare for the Bobby Weiss Series, which starts its preliminaries on Saturday, April 8 and races through to their Championships on the four days starting April 29. Any questions about Pocono racing can be directed to Director Of Racing Rick Kane at 570-831-2127.

The popular Game Of Claims Series will get underway on Saturday, March 4. Horses of various claiming prices (and gaits) will compete in Game Of Claims events through March and April.

The Pennsylvania-sired stakes season begins on Sunday, May 7 with a Pennsylvania All-Stars event; the PA Sire Stakes and Stallion Series make their first appearance on Sunday, May 21. This year Pocono will host the $252,000 Championships for all four of the 2-year-old divisions on Saturday, September 2.

Two weeks before that, Pocono Downs at Mohegan Sun Pennsylvania will be proud to present its premier card of the season, the $2M+ Sun Stakes Saturday, with the finest 3-year-olds coming to The Downs and racing in a main event and consolations based on seasonal earnings. There will also be $100,000 Invitationals for older horses on both gaits on the Sun Stakes Saturday card.

The Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes Championships return to Pocono for the first time in 16 years on Monday, October 9. Right behind the Fair Finals, the John Simpson Sr. Memorial stakes series will offer competition for all 2- and 3-year-old divisions from October 16th to the 21st.

-edited release (PHHA/Pocono)