What started to shape up as a difficult trip for the Bar Hopping gelding Inaminute Hanover in the $22,500 fast-class handicap trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday (Dec. 30) turned into a pretty good journey, and 'Inaminute' made the most of it to win in 1:54.3.
Smoking Jet passed Judge Bob nearing the :27.3 quarter then yielded to Focus Pocus, the winner of last week’s feature, before the :56.2 half. Inaminute Hanover and driver Andrew McCarthy (who was the top driver on the day with six victories) were sitting directly behind this threesome, and they looked likely to be forced into first-over duty, but Smoking Jet was given the word from the pocket to try again, giving much-desired cover to the winner to and just past the 1:25 three-quarters.
Inaminute Hanover swung wide around the embattled leaders to take a stretch lead and favoured closer Baldaquin, racing fourth-over, just had too far to come, winding up 1-1/4 lengths short. Undefeated in two starts at Philly, Inaminute Hanover now has earnings of $228,201. He is trained by Jake Huff for Beauty Bridle Racing Stable Inc.
In the $14,400 co-featured trot for up-and-coming horses, Adore Me handled a stepup in class to take her third straight start, here in 1:57.1. Andy Miller had to go the difficult tuck-then-first-over route with the sophomore daughter of Father Patrick, but she proved more than equal to that challenge, overhauling pacesetting Archery Seelster by 1-3/4 lengths for trainer/wife Julie Miller and Windsong Stable.
Saturday (Dec. 31) is not only the final day of 2022, but it is also (and obviously) the last racing day of the year at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with the trotters and pacers starting at a special time of 2:30 p.m. Since it is the last day of the year, there can be no carryovers to the next day in multi-horse bets, so in the last race of every bet that normally features a carryover situation, there will be a payout, even if there is no “perfect” ticket (the announcer will keep fans informed of those situations). There will also be a carryover of $419.48 from Friday into Saturday’s “must-pay” Pick-5 in races five through nine.
On the racing side, a $16,200 fast-class handicap pace will highlight a solid card of Saturday action. Program pages for all Philly cards will be available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Harrah's Philadelphia)