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<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; They&#8217;re off. And running.</p><p>And chasing the sport&#8217;s biggest prize at the end.</p><p>For the third time in eight years, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono will host the Breeders Crown, harness racing&#8217;s richest and most prestigious year-end divisional championship series, track management announced during a press conference Thursday at Pacer&#8217;s Clubhouse Restaurant.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the best horses, drivers, trainers,&#8221; said Dale Rapson, the vice-president of operations at The Downs. &#8220;It&#8217;s like the Super Bowl in football coming to Pocono Downs.&#8221;</p><p>It promises to be the highlight of a 2018 season that&#8217;s sure to keep interest churning among harness racing fans. From possible appearances by Julius Erving and Keith Byars to the June 30 Sun Stakes to the Sept. 2 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, The Downs promises to ratchet up the sports enthusiasm.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re an entertainment facility,&#8221; said Anthony Carlucci, the president and general manager of The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. &#8220;We need the track to entertain.&#8221;</p><p>It all starts Saturday, when horses get out of the gates at 7 p.m. &#8212; the new post time for the Downs &#8212; with a 14-race card.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know about butterflies, but definitely excited,&#8221; sais Marcus Miller, a veteran of past Breeders Crown races and one of the sport&#8217;s best drivers. &#8220;There are a lot of us who call this track our home track.&#8221;</p><p>No matter where their home is.</p><p>The 28-year-old Miller is from Williamson, Ill., and was driving horses while going to college at DePaul.</p><p>Then there&#8217;s Simon Allard, a 36-year-old driver who hails from Ontario, Canada, but moved to the United States seven years ago and was second in driver wins at the track in 2017 with 213.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really more excited. You get goosebumps,&#8221; Allard, who won his 3,000th career harness race at The Downs last summer, said of the track&#8217;s approaching opening day. &#8220;It&#8217;s like when you don&#8217;t go to work for awhile. We love what we do.&#8221;</p><p>Most drivers get their their racing fix at tracks located in weather conditions more suited to outdoor harness racing, but they desire the day when the Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono will re-open.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s such a great place to race,&#8221; said Rene Allard, Simon&#8217;s brother and the track&#8217;s leading trainer in wins and UTRS last season. &#8220;Unfortunately, it doesn&#8217;t race the winter. When the spring comes, you&#8217;re like, &#8216;Pocono opens!&#8217; In November, it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Oh, it&#8217;s closing for the year.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>Before they bolt up the barns for this year, officials at The Downs plan to deliver another blast of high-stakes thrills.</p><p>The James M. Lynch Memorial, the Max C. Hempt Memorial, the Earl B. Jr. Memorial and The Ben Franklin will all run at The Downs this summer.</p><p>But everyone will be chasing a spot in the Oct. 27 Breeders Crown, which features a $6 million purse and the sport&#8217;s elite players and comes back to The Downs after successful runs in 2010 and 2013.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s our goal,&#8221; Simon Allard said. &#8220;It&#8217;s everybody&#8217;s goal.&#8221;</p><p>Not everyone will reach it.</p><p>Although 1,146 trotters and pacers became eligible with a payment last month to the Crown events at Mohegan Sun &#8212; &#8220;I entered more horses this year than I ever did before, all my best horses,&#8221; Rene Allard said &#8212; Rapson points out they have to qualify for the Breeders Crown Finals.</p><p>&#8220;The horses have to qualify,&#8221; Rapson said. &#8220;You have to win a certain amount of races and get a certain amount of points. We take the best eight, nine horses from that field.&#8221;</p><p>Then The Downs will host Breeders Crown Eliminations from Oct. 19 through Oct. 20 for 11 categories involving trot and pace.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;ll be the best four from each race from qualifying the one with the next-best time (for the finals),&#8221; Rapson said.</p><p>It won&#8217;t be the final burst of excitement at The Downs during the coming months.</p><p>Rapson felt comfortable enough to say the facility is close to finalizing an autograph appearance by former ABA and Philadelphia 76ers icon Erving, best-known as Dr. J, as well as ex-Philadelphia Eagles standout and current ESPN radio host Byars.</p><p>&#8220;The whole world&#8217;s looking at us,&#8221; Rapson said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not just in the United States. Countries like Sweden are looking at us, drivers and trainers around the world, a little racetrack in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of amazing.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Driver Marcus Miller feels right at home at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and will be shooting to make the Breeders Crown Finals at what he considers his home track in October. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031618HorseRacing2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Driver Marcus Miller feels right at home at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and will be shooting to make the Breeders Crown Finals at what he considers his home track in October. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031618HorseRacing1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Vice President of Racing Operations Dale Rapson speaks at a luncheon Thursday at The Downs at the Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL031618HorseRacing1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Vice President of Racing Operations Dale Rapson speaks at a luncheon Thursday at The Downs at the Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Township. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono to host 2018 Breeders Crown, opens Saturday