Despite mid-afternoon rains in the greater Philadelphia area, a sizable crowd showed up for 'Back to the Track Day' Sunday at Chester Racetrack, and they were certainly in for a treat as they saw a number of sensational performances
.
Mathias Meinzinger, Jerry Silva, and Ray Schnittker's One More Laugh ($2.40) entered the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes event for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings with wins in the Art Rooney and the Meadowlands Pace this season, and he maintained his form over 'sloppy' going, as he pulled away to a handy 1:51.1 win in his $130,017 division. The three-year-old McArdle gelding was eased off the pace on the first turn by Tim Tetrick before making his move to the lead well past a :27.3 first quarter set by Sharks Legacy (driven by David Miller).
"I didn't want to put him on the front too early," commented Tetrick. "He was the horse to beat, I knew Versado was going to move, and I wanted him behind me and not to my outside." Tetrick waited for Versado (Yannick Gingras) to clear Sharks Legacy before brushing with One More Laugh. He was uncontested through middle splits of :55.3 and 1:23.3 before he faced a challenge from Nova Artist (George Napolitano) on the far turn. In his usual relaxed demeanour, he turned away Nova Artist and kicked away to a four-length victory in 1:51.1 over the pocket-sitting Versado. Nova Artist faded to third.
One More Laugh pushed his career earnings to $1,393,920 with his 13th lifetime win, and his fourth win of the season.
"One More Laugh isn't a good front-end horse, but he showed his speed today," Tetrick concluded. "The mile he went last year in the Governor's Cup last year was unbelievable. He doesn't care if he's parked; he just likes to race horses. He was very good."
The $130,417 first division saw Shannon DePinto and Earl Smith's We Will See ($10.80) take advantage of a ground-saving trip to pull clear of the pace-setting Fred and Ginger (Yannick Gingras) and the pocket-sitting Panesthetic (George Brennan) in 1:51.4. Brett Miller's lone drive on the card was aboard the Sam DePinto-trained son of Western Hanover.
Presidential Order Wins 10th Straight
Starting his streak as a $15,000 claimer, the Lightning Lane Stable's Presidential Order ($7.00) has seen a 10-race winning streak take him all the way to the open ranks, beating a select field of seven in Sunday's $32,000 Open Handicap Pace.
Starting the season with an eye-catching qualifier for then-trainer Anthony DeFrancesco, III, the five-year-old Camotion gelding was bound for success from the beginning of the spring. Owners Jay Hospodarek and Eric O'Neill, whom together form the Lightning Lane Stable, found him worthy of his $15,000 claiming tag. "From what I saw in the past,
Presidential Order had some ability," remarked Hospodarek. "He put up some good races as a $15,000 claimer, and we thought he was a good buy."
In his patented pillar-to-post fashion, Presidential Order was able to hold off the pocket-sitting Dial or Nodial (David Miller) in 1:50.4 over a 'sloppy' track in rein to regular driver George Napolitano, Jr. "He's wired the field in basically every race he won during the streak," continued Hospodarek. "He was game, he was strong, and just like you (racecaller James Witherite) said, 'We'll see what this horse is made of.' Sitting at the three-quarters, I saw Dial or Nodial on George's helmet. Coming around the far turn, George got some separation, and the horse held on."
Lou Peña trains Presidential Order, who recorded his 13th win of the season.
(Chester)