A quartet of $12,600 events for developing horses topped the bill of fare on Thursday afternoon (June 1) at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
The two trotting contests were handicap events, with winners of more races than the basic condition allowed to enter and start from the outside of their field. A pair of Tactical Landing offspring were winners in the trots, with one coming close to a track record.
Andy Miller had the sophomore filly Friends After Six in high gear from the first step to the last, hanging up fractions of :27.3, :56.4 and 1:24.3 en route to stopping the timer in 1:53, just two-fifths off the divisional Philly standard shared by Whose Blues (2020) and Anoka Hanover (2021). Two more sophomore fillies, Walover and Quick Stop, gave big performances but had to settle for second and third, respectively, behind the Julie Miller trainee, who took a lifetime mark for Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc.
Dyladmar was the 1-5 favourite in his division despite a break in the New Jersey Sire Stakes last time, and he ran again challenging Chezactic for the lead nearing the quarter. Chezactic made the most of his opponent’s bad luck, heading right down the road to win in a lifetime best 1:55.1, a length ahead of Street Smarts, for trainer/driver Trond Smedshammer and Purple Haze Stable LLC.
The paces were divided by gait. Dance Partner proved to be the best of the males, the altered son of A Rocknroll Dance making a second move during the latter stages to tally while reducing his mark to 1:52.1 for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Bill Mac Kenzie, ands owners Alma Iafelice, Vincent Ali Jr., and Lawrence Miller. Up The Creek, who took a stumblestep angling wide on the far turn, recovered well but could only get within 1-1/2 lengths of the winner at the finish.
Tetrick, who added five more victories to his meet-leading total Thursday, also took the pacing section for females, moving the American Ideal sophomore filly Silky Stride to the lead at the half and keeping a good margin through back fractions of :55.2 and :27.3, stopping the timer at 1:53.1 while well clear of closing Into The Unknown. Trainer Mark Harder also co-owns the winner of two straight with Dean Lockhart, Deena Rachel Frost, and Wayne Carleton.
Friday’s racing, which begins at 12:25 p.m., is topped by a $20,000 Open Handicap Pace for distaffs with the likes of Drama Act and Mikala among the entrants. The Pennsylvania-sired three-year-old pacing fillies, headed by 2022 Sire Stakes champion and world record-setter Beach Cowgirl in her seasonal debut, see their first stakes action of the season on Sunday on the 12:40 p.m. card, with three Sire Stakes sections joined by six Stallion Series cuts; the stakes are supplemented by a $20,000 Open Handicap on each gait. Program pages for all races at Harrah’s Philadelphia will be available on the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Harrah's Philadelphia)