Pocono: Idiosyncratic clocks fastest mile in Sunday's PA All-Stars events

The Pennsylvania-sired "glamour division," the 3-year-old pacing males, were featured in their first of two consecutive Sunday stops at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, contesting three $30,000 divisions of their Pennsylvania All-Stars event.

The fastest divisional winner, the Sweet Lou gelding Idiosyncratic, was also the only non-favorite to be victorious, taking a new mark of 1:50 3/5 as the 5-2 second choice. Idiosyncratic was directed three-wide down the backstretch to loop a parked-the-mile horse, then kept coming in the stretch to catch Mamba, who had gone fractions of 26 4/5, 54 1/5, and 1:22 1/5 under pressure, by three-quarters a length, with favored Stay Grounded shuffled back, then closing for third. Ron Burke trains the winner, a winner of half his 12 seasonal starts who lowered his mark from The Meadows last week by a tick, for Burke Racing Stable LLC. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

Favored sons of Captaintreacherous took the other two cuts, one easily, one not so easily. The Brett Pelling-trained Command gradually worked up from the outside post eight by Todd McCarthy, wearing the colors of owners Diamond Creek Racing, and took command, putting up splits of 27 2/5, 56, and 1:23 3/5. Hunters Hero swung wide from second-over and closed powerfully on the far outside at 30-1, but he was a nose shy in the 1:51 1/5 mile, with pocket-sitter Panettone Hanover just another nose shy of taking it all.

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Perhaps the most impressive winner to the eye won in the slowest clocking of the three, 1:51 4/5. Ken Hanover, coming off a 1:49 4/5 Meadows Sire Stakes win, was the overwhelming choice and was driven by confidence by David Miller (career win #13,998), laying off early fractions of 27 2/5 and 57 1/5 before launching a steady uncovered bid well before the 1:24 3/5 three-quarters. Ken Hanover ate up the ground until taking over late on the turn, then held off second-over Lyons Surfing by 2 1/4 lengths while pacing his own last half in 53 4/5. Trainer Polie Mallar and co-owners Patrick Leavitt, William Jordan, and Dennis Osterholt look to have themselves a national-caliber colt here.

Pocono will close out its racing week with 1 p.m. cards on Monday and Tuesday, with younger horses featured on Monday and sharing the spotlight with the track's top claiming handicap trotters on Tuesday.

--press release (PHHA/Pocono)--