Pocono week in review, June 3-9, 2017

As we entered the month of June, the weather was a bit of a mixed bag at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. For example, Saturday night was gorgeous and, as a result, featured some of the fastest times of the harness racing season. The following night the track was sloppy enough to slow normal winning times down several seconds. Monday and Tuesday were similarly erratic. But the racing action never wavered, giving us plenty of candidates for this edition of The Weekly Awards.

PACER OF THE WEEK: LIFEIMITATESART

Sometimes you need to see a horse before you can tell what exactly it has to offer. Such was the case with Lifeimitatesart, an 8-year-old gelding trained by Marty Fine who has spent much of his career racing in Canada. That's where he was toiling early this season, before eventually going on a layoff of nearly four months. He eventually resurfaced at Pocono for a start against the $7,500 claimers on May 29 without even having a qualifier over the track to give handicappers some clue about his talent.

The new kid in town went off at 9-2 that night, the second choice behind heavy favorite Visible Gold. With Scott Zeron in the bike, Lifeimitatesart used a first-over move to blow away the favorite and the rest of the field in 1:52:3. When he returned on Monday night against the same field, the faithful knew that he had the goods and made him the 2-5 favorite.

With Simon Allard driving him this time around, Lifeimitatesart once again sat mid-pack early on before launching a first-over jaunt before the half-mile marker. And once again he had Visible Gold in his sights, overtaking him on the back stretch. From there the rest of the field faded from view as Lifeimitatesart poured it on to the tune of a 6 ½ length victory in 1:54. After two victories in a row, this pacer has gone from unknown quantity to serious force in a very short time.

Other top pacers this week include: Split The House (George Napolitano Jr., Chris Oakes), who rolled to an easy win in Saturday night's featured condition pace in 1:48:4, a new career mark and the fastest mile of the season so far at Pocono; Just Bettor (George Napolitano Jr., Jason Robinson), who handled the $12,500 claimers for the second straight week on Saturday night, this time around in 1:51:1; and Call Me Queen Bee (Jim Marohn Jr., Ross Croghan), who overcame an outside post to win Sunday night's $25,000 featured distaff pace in 1:53:2 in the slop.

TROTTER OF THE WEEK: HOMICIDE HUNTER

Fans need a long memory when handicapping, or at least the wherewithal to peruse the program closely to get every bit of pertinent information on the competitors. In the case of Homicide Hunter, a five-year-old gelding trained by Chris Oakes, his record this year might not have suggested that he was ready to take on the toughest trotters on the grounds on Sunday night for a $25,000 condition purse. Although he had faced excellent competition in two starts at Yonkers, his middle-of-the-pack finishes might not have inspired too much confidence.

But anybody who witnessed Homicide Hunter's world-record mile of 1:50:1 at Pocono knows that he is a special performer. And the third start off the layoff proved to be the night when that talent reemerged in a major way. Driver George Napolitano Jr. sent him to the front end early and let the rest of the field decide if they wanted to hang.

The field in the race consisted of some truly outstanding trotters, with four out of the other seven horses having earned at least $100,000 a year ago. But Homicide Hunter was having none of it, extending his lead throughout the race until he was all alone. He coasted home effortlessly 5 ¼ lengths in front of second-place Celebrity Eventsy. The winning time of 1:54:1 probably would have been in the 1:52 or even 1:51 range were it not for the sloppy conditions. It was another impressive performance at Pocono for this star trotter.

Honorable mention on the trotting side goes to: Fashion Creditor (Jason Bartlett, Tom Fanning), who chalked up a condition win on Saturday night in 1:53:1, the fastest trotting time of the week at Pocono; No Reason At All (Mike Simons driver and trainer), who followed up a victory at Tioga with a win on Monday night at Pocono in 1:55:4, making him two-for-two on the season; and Southwind Avanti (Jason Bartlett, Anette Lorentzon), a three-year-old filly who arrived from Yonkers and romped for a condition win on Tuesday night in the slop in 1:55, a new career mark and her third win in four races this season.

LONG SHOT OF THE WEEK: SOME PLAYA

An outside post didn't scare off this condition pacer on Saturday night, as Simon Allard guided him to the victory at 47-1, paying off $97 on a $2 win ticket.

DRIVER OF THE WEEK: ANTHONY NAPOLITANO

Anthony's finest season to date at Pocono continued at a hot pace this week, as he picked up multiple victories in three of the four racing nights.

TRAINER OF THR WEEK: CHRIS OAKES

When there are big races, expect Chris' horses to be intimately involved in the outcome; his trainees won three out of the four $25,000 races held this week at Pocono.

That will do it for this week, but we'll see you at the track. Feel free to e-mail me at jbeviglia@mohegansunpocono.com.

Jim Beviglia