WILKES-BARRE PA – Southwind Gendry (Always B Miki), who earlier in the meet paced the fastest mile of the year at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, 1:47.4, caught a track rerated from “good” to “fast” only two races earlier and wired his harness racing field in the $18,500 fast-class pace Saturday afternoon, winning a three-horse photo in an exciting finish while stopping the clock in 1:49.3.

The 7-5 favorite Southwind Gendry, an altered son of Always B Miki who now has lifetime earnings of $1,318,822, left a little faster than the 8-5 second choice Combustion to his right and put him in the two-hole, with 10-1 outsider Dublin Dasher holding in line third from the rail. Southwind Gendry made the field work to keep up by setting fractions of :26.1, :54.3, and 1:21.4, which burnt off any two-wide contention.

The stretch battle would came down to the three pylonhugging horses, each of whom had won two of their last three races, and they were guided by drivers who would win nine of the eleven races on the Pocono Saturday card: meet leader Tyler Buter (four wins) and Southwind Gendry, George Napolitano Jr. (two wins) and Combustion, and Simon Allard (three wins) and Dublin Dasher.

Southwind Gendry was pressed the length of the stretch as Combustion went to the Pocono Pike and Dublin Dasher then found room deep in the passing lane, and the winner prevailed by a head over the pocket horse, with the third-in just another head away from taking it all. But the day belonged to Southwind Gendry, who is trained by Pocono’s leading trainer Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC, Phil Collura, Knox Services Inc., and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby.

SOUTHWIND GENDRY REPLAY

There were a pair of $17,000 co-features for “non-winners of 9 races,” one on each gait. The trotting contest saw Brodeur, a son of Tactical Landing, take the two-hole early in a :27 opener, brush to the top in front of the stands and lead past midsplits of :56 and 1:24.1 (while shrugging off first-over favorite Super Duper Cooper), then firmly retain control to the wire in a 1:53.1 clocking. Jim Marohn Jr. had the steer behind the Anette Lorentzon trainee, who is co-owned by Lorentzon, ACL Stuteri AB, and Kjell Johansson.

BRODEUR REPLAY

In the co-featured pace, raced when the track was still rated “good,” the Foreclosure N gelding Borninlockdown GB was hustled away by Tyler Buter to grab the early pocket behind Rio, going for his fifth straight and stepping up in class here. Rio put up strong fractions of :26.3, :55.1, and 1:22.2, but in the stretch Borninlockdown GB went free to the outside and sailed past the pacesetter while taking a new lifetime mark of 1:49.4. This was another collaboration of the Buter/Burke powers for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

BORNINLOCKDOWN REPLAY

Sunday night at 6 p.m., Pocono Downs will be hosting Hambletonian hopefuls in Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action for three-year-old trotting males; their related Stallion Series events will have their concurrent second preliminaries raced as well. There will be a carryover for the Pick 5 pool beginning in race five. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From the PHHA / Pocono Downs