Pocono: Once In A Lifetime, Khaosan Road best in PA Sire Stakes

On Sunday evening Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania featured 3-year-old trotting males in the second preliminary of the state-sired program, two $71,274 divisions of the Sire Stakes and four $20,000 divisions of the Stallion Series.

If you owned a winner, you were especially happy, as all six stakes races produced lifetime marks. If you bet the favorite, you didn't have too much fun at all, as the chalk went zero-for-six in the stakes contests.

Last year's Sire Stakes champion Once In A Lifetime benefited from a very clever drive by Tim Tetrick to run his 2023 record to three-for-four in 1:53 1/5. Trying to overcome the outside post eight, Tetrick slid the Father Patrick colt into fourth early as three battled for the lead, then saw that tuck turn into the pocket, as nearing the quarter the middle battler broke and the three-wide challenger took back to find a pylon spot. So, Once In A Lifetime could sit the two-hole behind favored Saint Louie, a first round PaSS winner, through fractions of 27, 57 1/5, and 1:25, then rally in the Pocono Pike to gain a three-quarter length victory over the late-closing French Wine, with Saint Louie settling for third.

Once In A Lifetime, who had won a PA All-Stars event at Pocono two starts back, is trained by Jim Campbell for Sad Frog Farms.

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The other division went even faster, with the International Moni gelding Khaosan Road (a street in Bangkok for the geographically-minded) coming home in 1:52 3/5 despite a hard trip. Trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt got a tuck third behind fractions of 26 4/5 and 56 1/5, was on the attack first-over on the backstretch, reaching pace-setter Kenobi nearing the 1:24 3/5 three-quarters, then went on strongly to win over that foe by 1 1/2 lengths. The winner of the Dexter Cup, the Bunker Hill and now a PaSS contest in 2023 is owned by Knutsson Trotting Inc. and Little E LLC.

Two first-round Stallion Series winners made it two-for-two in the Keystone competition. They were the Bar Hopping gelding Twilight Buzz, home in 1:55 for driver Mark MacDonald, trainer Tim Twaddle, and Thestable Tailgate Buzz, and Grizz Wyllie, an altered son of Father Patrick who has won in the StS by a head and now a nose, tallying Sunday in 1:54 3/5 for driver David Miller, trainer Nifty Norman, and the ownership of Kovach Stables LLC., Tony Holmes, Walter Zent, and Enzed Racing Stable Inc.

Sire Father Patrick picked up another Stallion Series credit, and a third stakes winner on the evening, when Lloyd Wright angled wide and completed his designs on the winner's circle with a 1:55 success for driver Tim Tetrick (who had six wins on the day, three each at Philly and Pocono), trainer Randy Bendis, and the partnership of Pollack Racing LLC. and Jeff Cullipher. The other Stallion Series winner was the quickest of the quartet (1:54 2/5) and the longest-priced winner on the card (13-1), the Southwind Frank gelding Express Man, who triumphed for driver Jim Pantaleano, trainer Scott Betts, and the group of of Tar Heel Racing, Stephen Moss, Gabrielle Hritsko, and James Chambers.

--press release (PHHA/Pocono)--