Pocono: Milestone for Schadel on opening day of 2025 racing season

Todd Schadel, the leader in UDR and UTR in North America last year in the 300-499 starts category, notched another milestone Monday as Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania got its 2025 season underway after a Saturday cancellation, scoring his 2,000th sulky success as his Internationalcraze won the featured trot in 2:00 3/5.

Over a "good" track on a bitterly cold day with a strong stretch headwind, causing the variant to go from "+1" to "+2" to "+3" in time for the day's two feature races, Schadel and the winning International Moni 4-year-old gelding were not to be denied, moving before the quarter of 30 seconds and passing the next poles in 1:00 3/5 and 1:30 2/5 en route to a three length victory in the $15,000 contest. Internationalcraze, who was the first 2:00 trotter in Butler Fair history this past summer after going exactly 2:00, is co-owned by trainer/driver Schadel and his wife Christine along with Rick and Regina Beinhauer.

Top purse of the day was the $17,000 bounty offered for developing distaff pacers, and the well-traveled Sweet Lou mare Louisville GB regained her winning ways with a 1:57 3/5 victory. Louisville GB, who had won her four previous starts before a hard-luck fourth last time, was four-wide early, then set into high gear past a 28 3/5 quarter to make the lead and put up middle splits of 58 3/5 and 1:27 3/5 en route to a 2 1/4 length victory. The Robert Cleary trainee, owned by Ken Jacobs, was guided by Tyler Buter, who tied with George Napolitano Jr. for opening day honors with three driving triumphs.

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Pocono has racing scheduled for this Saturday and Monday, the 22nd and 24th, at 1 p.m. The Saturday card will find the Game Of Claims Series for pacers valued at $25,000 race the first of their three preliminaries, eight divisions strong, after losing the original initial leg to the cancellation this past Saturday; these horses will race three $17,000 preliminaries, trying to earn their way into the $35,000 Championship, now slated for Saturday, March 15. There will also be a $25,000 fast-class pacing feature on the Saturday card.

--press release (PHHA/Pocono)--