Wilkes-Barre, PA — Two-year-old colts were spotlighted in a pair of $11,700 contests during the Monday afternoon (July 19) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

In the colt trot, Aggiornamento started his career with two straight victories after setting the pace and then holding off the debuting pocket-sitter Backstreet Player by three-quarters of a length in a career-best-equaling 1:58.1. These two were the favorites in the race, and raced like it, as the third-place horse was almost another 15 lengths behind them. Aggiornamento, a Nuncio–Tuonela gelding driven by Tom Jackson for trainer Fred Grant and owner Russell Williams, had enough left late to make his advantage stand up.

The freshman male pacers were headed by the Heston Blue Chip–Restive Hanover gelding Flip My Chip, whose 1:54.3 time matched the clocking he posted in a recent qualifying race. Marcus Miller guided the winner to the lead in front of the stands and rated the pace, then sprinted home in :27.1 to retain firm control and take his first purse race win for trainer Erv Miller and the partnership of Ervin Miller Stable Inc. and Sara Miller.

The Artiscape gelding Spanish Art became the only horse to pay boxcar win prices at both Pocono and sister track Harrah’s Philadelphia in 2021, with his $84.60 return on a $2 ticket joining his $62.80 upset of May 27 a hundred miles south of the mountain track. Spanish Art also has a $25.80 triumph at Pocono this year, but the Pompano fans weren’t fooled in his other two victories this season — he paid $4.40 and $6.40 when racing there.