Pocono: Ford, Norman send out contenders in quartet of Weiss finals

Veteran trainers Mark Ford and Richard "Nifty" Norman, who will each send out a pair of horses, find themselves with contenders in the four $50,000 finals for the Bobby Weiss Series at Pocono beginning this Saturday (April 27) and concluding Tuesday (April 30).

Ford is represented well on the pacing side Saturday afternoon with Clairedelou (post one) hoping to pull off a minor upset in the $50,000 Weiss final for 3-year-old pacing fillies carded as race eight. The trainer also has Southwind Celsius (post three) seeking his third straight victory in the $50,000 Weiss for sophomore colts and geldings, race 10 on the program.

The Weiss trotting finals will take place on Monday (April 29) and Tuesday with colts and geldings going first and Norman's Usain Hanover (post one) holding the inside draw against seven rivals. Tactical Lori looks for a series sweep on Tuesday in the $50,000 final for 3-year-old trotting fillies. The daughter of Tactical Landing drew well (post two) in a power-packed field.

The Weiss is a late-closer for non-winners of two pari-mutuel races or $30,000 lifetime and trainer Ford's pair fit that bill nicely.

"Each raced last year but really weren't mentally or physically ready," said Ford of his pacers that he took over about six weeks ago.

Following a winless campaign as a freshman, Clairedelou has turned the corner with first- and second-place finishes in three Weiss preliminaries.

"She's been getting a little better each week," said Ford.

Clairedelou will have to pick up her game in Saturday's final with Beautiful Roz (post seven) looking to sweep through the series after three easy victories in the preliminary legs. A daughter of Always B Miki trained by Brett Pelling, Beautiful Roz, a $260,000 yearling purchase in 2022, has won four of five career starts, including a personal and series-best 1:53 clocking taken on April 20.

Ford's charge Southwind Celsius drew well for the Weiss colt and gelding final, and the son of Captain Crunch will hope to continue his winning form – albeit for a new driver – with Marcus Miller in the bike as regular pilot Braxten Boyd has chosen Who Said I Can't (post seven) for his mount in this affair.

"He was just a very difficult horse to be around last year," Ford said of Southwind Celsius, who started to turn the corner following castration. Ford was able to put Southwind Celsius on Lasix following his fifth-place finish in the opening leg of the series, and that could be one of the factors that has seen him elevate his game over the last two weeks.

"He's still a bit green, but he's learning how to put things together," said Ford.

Trainer Blake McIntosh sends out a pair of sons of Courtly Choice, with Supplemental Fee (post four) and Spring Blake (post eight) solid contenders. Captain Caveman (post one) has won three of his four starts this year for trainer Robert Cleary, including a 1:51 4/5 mile in the April 13 qualifying round.

Who Said I Can't is the fastest of the finalists for trainer Mark Harder. The homebred gelding was a convincing 1:51 2/5 winner in the third leg (April 20) following a fourth-and third-place finish in earlier series action.

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Ain't Nostopn Time (post five) is the richest sophomore in the field and enters the final with five wins in nine starts this year. The Lazurus-sired half-brother to Always B Miki hails from the top stable of Per Engblom.

Usain Hanover started seven times as a freshman with but one victory. This year he's won two of three starts for trainer Norman, all in the Weiss Series. On Monday (April 29) he gets his best draw and a proven driver in Dexter Dunn in the bike for the tenth race final.

"He's grown up a lot since last year," said Norman. "He can be kind of tricky to drive, bearing out at times, but definitely has a lot of potential."

Usain Hanover won on the front-end in the second leg of the series (April 15) in a career-best 1:54 4/5 clocking and then coasted following a first-up move to capture a division in the final round last Monday (April 22).

"He has a tendency to pull himself up before the wire," said Norman, hoping that Usain Hanover can keep his mind on business for the rich $50,000 final.

Though Usain Hanover drew favorably he'll have to tangle with a quality field that has landed the better competition on the outer edge of the starting car. Both Blackhawk Zette (post six) and Victor Laszlo (post eight) have gone through the three preliminary legs unscathed, with the former owning the fastest time, a 1:54 2/5 mile on April 15. Blackhawk Zette is undefeated in four starts this year and has been entered for the Dexter Cup on May 4 at Freehold. Victor Laszlo went winless in six tries for trainer Ray Schnittker as a 2-year-old but has come back sharp this year with four impressive victories. Mark MacDonald drives the son of Chapter Seven.

Norman has high hopes for Tactical Lori but recognizes Tuesday's $50,000 Weiss final (race 10) is a wide-open affair.

"I think Burke's filly [Kinesiology] has looked solid along with Elista Hanover," said Norman of the competition that drew outside his filly.

"She's very professional," is how Norman described Tactical Lori following four consecutive wins this year while racing both on the front-end and coming from off-the-pace.

Though Tactical Lori won three times in the series for driver David Miller, the Hall of Famer has opted for Elista Hanover (post four) for the final following a pair of solid victories by the daughter of International Moni in the first two legs of the series.

Kinesiology is another example of a 2-year-old that had gone winless suddenly finding her footing in the Weiss series. The Burke-trained daughter of Walner was unthreatened in her two leg victories but must overcome post seven in Tuesday's final.

Trainer Julie Miller also has a contender in this event with Tove Palema (post eight) looking to remain unbeaten as a sophomore despite the unlucky draw.

All three Weiss Final cards at Pocono get underway at 1:00 P.M. (EDT).