Pocono: Sun Stakes Saturday lures sport's top pacers and trotters

The lure of $2,300,000 in purses, plus in many cases divisional bragging rights, have attracted a sizable portion of harness racing’s stars to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania this Saturday afternoon (August 22) for its biggest card of the year, Sun Stakes Saturday. The 14 -race program, starting at 2:30 p.m., is bringing to the mountain oval many of the best horses in North American harness racing, both this year and in recent campaigns.

The major format of the day is as follows: each of the four divisions of three-year-olds, separated by sex and gait, are seeded by their money earnings in 2026, with a maximum of eight horses per field. The two stakes for males, the Earl Beal Memorial Trot and the Max C. Hempt Memorial Pace, will race for $300,000, $200,000, and $100,000 in three races for each respective group as sorted by seasonal money winnings. The James Lynch Memorial Pace and Delmonica Hanover Trot, the companion events for fillies, have $250,000-$125,000-$75,000 sections, their fields also separated by 2026’s earnings.

There will also be $100,000 Invitationals for the top older horses on both gaits: the Always B Miki Pace and the Sebastian K S Trot, named after the co-fastest pacer and fastest trotter ever at Pocono.

Here is a brief look at the top horses in the major contests on the Sun Stakes Saturday card, per event – The three-year-old pacing events are very competitive in a pair of divisions within whom it has been hard to point out a clear leader, so we will turn our attention to them first:

MAX C. HEMPT MEMORIAL PACE ($300,000 division race 12; $200,000 division race 8, $100,000 division race 4):

The crown in the “glamour boys” group has been passed around several times this season; the Hempt may give us a better “read” on who is king of the hill at this point.

You can’t leave anybody out of consideration, so from post one to post eight (asterisk* indicates one of three Ron Burke entrants in the race): Melillo* followed up a head loss in the Adios Final with a win in the Milstein on Saturday; Brandon Blvd had been the most consistent of these until he came up a bit flat in the Cane; Al Papi* was powerful in both his Adios miles, and missed a head in the Meadowlands Pace; Odds On Mamba won the North America Cup and his Adios elim; he could do on his best mile.

On the right side of the gate: Beau Jangles, Horse of the Year in 2025 and winner of his first 15 races, but then 0-for-5 since; Sweet Lovin Lou and Gentleman’s Club, separated by a head in that order in the Cane; and Pennsylvania Sire Stakes multiple winner Another C Note*.

JAMES LYNCH MEMORIAL PACE ($250,000 division race 10; $125,000 division race 6, $75,000 division race 2):

Loua Dipa, last year’s divisional champion, looked on top of this group, but then tried the boys in the Adios and was unlucky and unsuccessful, and she has not been seen since.

Three fillies looking to fill the “Loua Dipa” void start from the middle of the field in the Lynch. Sangria Summer has won three of her last four starts, in the last beating her two main Lynch rivals in the Shady Daisy on Hambletonian Day – Darlin’s Angel, winner of over 50% in her career and just a head away in the Shady Daisy; and Be Perfect Bg, who had ten wins over two years and two photo losses to Loua Dipa, earning her favoritism in the Shady Daisy, and missed only three parts of a length in third after setting a fast pace. The late-developing Miss Jum Jabber was not eligible.

EARL BEAL MEMORIAL TROT ($300,000 division race 13; $200,000 division race 9, $100,000 division race 3):

Hambletonian and 2YO champion Apex has been lightly-campaigned all year per his stable’s philosophy, with only five starts to date, and has been kept out of the Beal; the horse who staged such a memorable stretch duel with him, Big Ranger, was not made eligible. This gives other good horses a chance to raise their divisional profile.

Minoan, third in the Hambo at 103-1, followed up with a PA Sire Stakes triumph at The Meadows last Saturday. Inexpressable, the Yonkers Trot champion, comes off a win in the Muscle Hill at The Meadowlands. Three others in the Beal – AI, Magic Punk, and Spencer Hanover – qualified for the Hambletonian Final, but were disadvantageouly-placed and finished well back in the big race; they have the credentials to win on their best effort

DELMONICA HANOVER TROT ($250,000 division race 11; $125,000 division race 7, $75,000 division race 1):

Setyoursightshigh, the Dan Patch award winner in this group in 2025, is finding her top form at a good time: she won her Hambo Oaks elimination, and then was third in the final after having to go first-over. Victorianas Secret is obviously a very fast filly: she has won four in her last five, but her timing was not good in that her loss was in her Hambo Oaks elim – she made an early error then tried to rectify it with coming home in :54 - :25 3/5, only to lose by three lengths while sixth. And the hometown favorite will be Little Road, trained by 80-years-young Roger Hammer, who shows four wins, one in a PA Sire Stake, and two PaSS photo defeats in her last six lines.

SEBASTIAN K S TROT ($100,000; race 5):

The Burke stable has an embarrassment of riches in this division; for the Sebastian K S they have sent a very good representative: Lexus Kody, 2025 Trotter of the Year, Yonkers International winner, and a head shy of being on a four-race win streak. 40 career victories and earnings of $2,234,124 speak to his durability and talent.

His main competitor appears to be Nordic Catcher S, from the barn of new Hall of Famer Åke Svanstedt, who was the 2025 Hambletonian champion, then was away from the races for almost a year. A win and a solid fourth in his two races in 2026 could suggest that he is approaching a very big mile. And don’t overlook Sir Pinocchio, who wheels right back in after a 1:51 1/5 lifetime mark at Pocono on Monday.

ALWAYS B MIKI PACE ($100,000; race 14):

Here’s another division that’s been searching for a leader, and it might now have found one, and he’s a local horse – Dandy Ideal, trained and part-owned in this area. Dandy Ideal went out to Hoosier Park last week and tied a track record in a 1:47 2/5 victory, and he paced that same time in equaling a world record at Pocono a few weeks back.

Captain Albano and Ken Hanover are familiar names who are “outsiders” in the Always B Miki in that they have drawn post seven and eight, respectively. Another “outsider” could be Surreal Ideal, who draws well and who has sandwiched two Meadows Open victories around a third after coming from eighth at the stretch call in a division of the McKee on Hambletonian Day.

The undercard doesn’t lack for firepower, either; among the Consolations are three horses who won their Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship last season: Ginger Tree Lex (3TF), Frantic Hanover (3PC), and Say Goodnight (3PF).

The Sun Stakes Saturday supercard will also have four guaranteed pools in multi-race bets, in conjunction with the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Initiative.

Late Pick 4 (races 10-13, the four major stakes) -- $20,000 guaranteed pool

Early Pick 4 (races 1-4) -- $10,000 guaranteed pool

Pick 5 (races 5-9) -- $5,000 guaranteed pool

Late Pick 3 (races 9-11) -- $5,000 guaranteed pool

The final scratches and driver changes will be posted early Tuesday afternoon on the U.S. Trotting Association website.

-edited release (PHHA/Pocono)