Wilkes-Barre, PA---Two horses hit the wire virtually inseparable in the seventh race at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Tuesday night. One was the even-money favorite, a daughter of Andover Hall out of Classical Flirt, the dam of world champion Market Share. The other was 198-1. Which one do you think won the photo?

Well -- if the chalk had won, would you be reading a story about it?Lady Of The Lake, a daughter of CR Excalibur, proved a shade more photogenic than Amorous Flirt for trainer/driver Joe Antonelli in the contest, taking a new mark of 1:58.4 while breaking her maiden in her 30th lifetime start.

And paying $398.60 for a $2 win ticket, having captured only $23 of a $5659 total win pool.

Lady Of The Lake was undoubtedly helped by the fractions (57 to the half, 1:01.4 the second half in 41 degree temperatures), but still she had to come uncovered all the way from seventh at the half, hooking up with Amorous Flirt, who had brushed to the lead in the second quarter for driver Matt Kalaley, midway around the final turn, from which the two battled side-by-side until Lady Of The Lake got the winning head-bob. Scarlett's Legacy was third, a neck off, at 26-1 ("just a piker," noted announcer Jim Beviglia), while two lengths further back to complete the Superfecta was 157-1 shot Dalmatinka.

The across-the-board for Lady Of The Lake was $398.60, $61.80, and $13.80. The 9-1 Exacta paid $2339.60 for $2 (with the even-money chalk second, remember). Nobody got further than the first two in the Trifecta, with a 9-1-ALL listing worth $766.80 for $2, while the 9-1-8-ALL Superfecta extrapolated out to $8023.00 for $2 ($2 payout listings are mandatory in Pennsylvania; with the takeout, there was just short of $1 worth in 9-1-8-A Superfecta tickets based on the pool size.)

Lynn Antonelli, Jane Capone, and Jane Farkas finally got to get a picture taken with Joe Antonelli and Lady Of The Lake, who with the win raised her lifetime bankroll to $25,930 -- not bad considering she had never won going into the race.

 

The winners' breeder was Winbak Farm - maybe producing $398.60 Winners helps you get to the Hall of Fame as Winbak's Joe Thomson was inducted this summer.