Pocono: George Napolitano Jr. visits victory lane eight times on Saturday

After posting six winners Friday afternoon at Harrah's Philadelphia, driver George Napolitano Jr. went two better by triumphing eight times on Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, including taking both $17,200 featured races and also guiding the two fastest winners on the card.

The features were separated in time only by a fifth of a second, but the "slower" mile was probably the more impressive – because it was posted by a trotter, the talented Explosive Matter mare Pat Matters, who took a new mark of 1:51 4/5, also the fastest trot mile of the year at Pocono. Napolitano made two speed moves with the winner of $263,606 in setting fractions of 27, 55 3/5, and 1:23 3/5, and then she showed determination to the wire in holding off 36-1 threat Stormy Kromer by a head. Nifty Norman saw his trainee notch her second straight triumph for the Patricia Stable.

In the top-level pace, Napolitano also made it two straight wins for Turbo Hill, whose 1:51 3/5 victory was his 16th in a 35-race career that has seen him amass $215,745 for owner Tom Hill. There was an awful lot of front-end contention in a contest with such "moderate" fractions as 27, 55, and 1:22 4/5, but "George Nap" had the winning son of American Ideal racing in the pocket, and he used the Pocono Pike passing lane in order to go on to victory with the Jennifer Bongiorno-trained horse.

Fastest winner on the Pocono card was Dealt A Winner, an altered son of the recently-deceased Cam's Card Shark, who has had his share of the spotlight since all the way back to 2015 when he was the fastest sophomore of the year in 1:47 3/5, faster than Wiggle It Jiggleit. Five years later and now with a bankroll of $1,326,724, Dealt A Winner can still put up fractions of 26 2/5, 54 2/5, and 1:21 3/5, then finish the mile out in 1:49 4/5, quickest of the year at Pocono while winning for Napolitano, trainer Mark Silva, and owner Jeffrey Snyder.

Also drawing attention was the Captaintreacherous sophomore colt Chief Mate, who is undefeated in two seasonal starts and who now has a nice new mark of 1:50. Napolitano sent the fleet colt to the front just after the quarter and appeared to be on cruise control nearing the wire, marking him as perhaps a late-developing factor for stakes competition for trainer Tony Alagna and the partnership of Brittany Farms LLC., Marvin Katz, Brad Grant, and Captain Kirk Racing.

The Pocono players have developed the proper respect for Napolitano Jr.’s abilities - he was favored in each of the octet of races he won. On the other hand, midcard there were victories in successive races by Bay Meadows ($51.40) and Rock Three Times ($54.00).

--press release (Pocono/PHHA)--