Super Chapter became the first 3-year-old to trot a five-eighth-mile track in 1:50 while winning the $300,000 Grade 2 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial on Saturday at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, but Emoticon Legacy pushed the winner to the utmost before failing to hold him off by the smallest possible margin ...
WILKES-BARRE, PA -- August 16, 2025 -- Super Chapter became the first 3-year-old to trot a five-eighth-mile track in 1:50 while winning the $300,000 Grade 2 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial on Saturday at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, but Emoticon Legacy pushed the winner to the utmost before failing to hold him off by the smallest possible margin.
Emoticon Hanover had the most jet as the gate pulled away, with Super Chapter starting just inside him in post four and securing the pocket. Emoticon Legacy headed right down the road with fractions of:26.4, :55.3, and 1:23.1, with Super Chapter getting the coveted two-hole trip behind the speedster.
For a good part of the stretch, it looked like Emoticon Legacy was going to make the ultimate bounce back from a slightly subpar day in the Hambletonian on Aug. 2, as Super Chapter’s driver, Dexter Dunn, pulled out from the pocket but did not immediately surge right up to the leader. But the victorious Chapter Seven colt just kept inching closer … and closer … and in the shadow of the wire got his nose ahead over his game opponent.
“He’s a great horse to drive; you can get him into the position you need,” Dunn said afterwards. “It was a tough battle down the stretch, but my colt keeps on fighting, and today he got the job done.”
The 1:50 clocking broke the stakes- and track-record of 1:50.2 set by Father Patrick in 2014. In addition to Father Patrick, filly Mission Brief (2015) and gelding Amigo Volo (2020) had also set their divisional world records going in 1:50.2, but Super Chapter added another super chapter to both his own story and the world record tables.
Super Chapter, trained by Marcus Melander for Jeffrey Snyder, Arthur Pronti, and Hanover Shoe Farms Inc., pushed his seasonal total to $698,505 and his career bankroll to $1.21 million. He has won six of seven races this year, with his only setback a second-place finish in the Hambletonian.
Fashion Green, Frank Leahy win Beal consolations
Fashion Green worked his way to the lead at the quarter and set the pace as he pleased in the $200,000 Beal Consolation I, then had enough to withstand the game first-over Happy Jack B while equaling his mark of 1:52.2. The Greenshoe gelding, driven by Tim Tetrick for Jim Campbell and Fashion Farms LLC, pushed his lifetime record to eight for nine (the only loss a combination of bad luck and bad timing, as he was first-over in his Hambo elim and didn’t make the final).
Frank Leahy yielded to sit in the two-hole in the $100,000 Beal Consolation II, then moved inside for the stretch drive to catch pacesetting stablemate Cheers Hanover by a head while taking a new mark of 1:52.4. Yannick Gingras drove the winner, and Ron Burke trained the 1-2 finishers; the victorious Southwind Frank colt is owned by Ben Mondello LLC and FAC Racing LLC.
