Matt Kakaley closed out a storybook week at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania one in which he went over $100 million USD in career earnings by notching his 6,000th driving victory with Willing Hanover in the trotting division of three $15,000 conditioned featured races on Tuesday afternoon.
Longtime Pennsylvania horsemen Don and Dave Wiest and Ed Kimmel developed a champion two-year-old trotter last season in the filly Love Muffin, who sold to Team Orange Crush over the winter after becoming the Pennsylvania Stallion Series championship. Now it looks like the longtime partners may be ready for another good season with baby trotters, as they took events for both sexes as The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono hosted the two-year-olds for the first time on Wednesday morning (June 2).
First was the filly Gumdrop Hanover, who came a last half in :58.1 to win her bow in 2:01.4 for Kimmel and co-owner-trainer-driver David Wiest. The baby is a daughter of Bar Hopping out of Grits N Seven, a half-sister to $1.6M-winning champion Royalty For Life.