Wild Bill Kelso was very sharp in his 2023 debut on Wednesday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, taking the $14,400 featured trot and earning a new race mark of 1:55.3.

Scott Zeron reserved the sophomore Crazy Wow gelding off the :28.4 quarter, then moved coming off that bend to make the lead in front of the stands. Mid-fractions of :57.1 and 1:26 were posted with little apparent effort by the Jim Campbell trainee, and he reached the wire 3-1/4 lengths ahead of the closing Chezactic to raise his lifetime bankroll over the $100,000 mark for owner/breeder Runthetable Stables.

A two-time New York Sire Stakes winner at two, Wild Bill Kelso is now three-for-10 in his career.

Both Simon Allard and Tim Tetrick drove four winners during the Wednesday racing at Philly.

Racing resumes Thursday at 12:25 p.m., with a $14,400 featured pace for developing distaffs. There are two dynamite $20,000 Open paces on Friday at 12:25 p.m., with the male division the clash of the recent titans Ruthless Hanover and South Beach Star, while Sunday’s 12:40 p.m. program will have a $20,000 Open Trot plus a pair of odd-distance races: a five-eighth-mile event for pacers and a 1-1/4-mile contest for trotters. 

(With files from PHHA/Harrah’s Philadelphia; Photo of #1 Wild Bill Kelso winning at Buffalo Raceway last year)