By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Eurobond took the top fast-class trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia for the second week in a row, winning an $11,000 handicap contest in 1:52.2 on Thursday afternoon.
 
This week’s field might have been a touch easier than last week’s, but Thursday Eurobond went from the inside number one starting spot to the outside post six. The winning son of Love You limbed out almost to the :27.3 opening station to grab the racetrack, but driver David Miller, tops at Philly on Thursday with three sulky successes, was able to string out much of the field during middle splits of :55.4 and 1:23.4. The one who did make a move was Sinatra De Vie, who came out uncovered late in the backstretch and briskly moved to give Eurobond a hard challenge, but the winner was able to keep his talented opponent three-quarters of a length behind at the finish.
 
Eurobond has now won three straight starts, and has amassed $733,900 lifetime. Owned by Morrison Racing, he is trained by Per Engblom, the leading trainer in terms of both wins and money earnings at Philly, and perhaps more impressively is tops in money amassed North-America-wide – the first time in a long time that somebody not named Burke has held that lofty position.
 
Up-and-coming performers contested a pair of $12,000 races, one on each gait. The trotters were led by the Tactical Landing filly Valentina Richie, who sprang from the pocket to catch pacesetter Kelly’s Greatest by 2¼ lengths in a career best 1:54.3 for Team Orange Crush (driver Andy Miller and trainer/wife Julie) and the ownership of Jason Allen, Patrick Hoopes, and Julie Meirs.
 
Mastering the pacers was the Sweet Lou gelding Sweet Ideal, who earned a new speed badge by winning in 1:52.1, holding off hard-charging Final Chance by three parts of a length for driver Troy Beyer, trainer Bill MacKenzie, and owner Alma Iafelice.
 
Friday’s racing at Philly, starting at 12:25, will feature carryovers in both the Pick-4 (first race) and the Pick-3 (seventh race); the racing week will then conclude with a 12:40 card on Sunday. Next week Harrah’s Philly swings into its basic schedule of racing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40. Free programs for all Philly cards are available at www.phha.org. 

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Hungry Angel Boy, a four-year-old son of Stay Hungry, is two-for-two in 2024 after overcoming the outside post seven to win the $16,000 featured pace at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon in 1:50.3.
 
The winner of $343,415 was wide early and settled in third as Twin B Risenshine took the field to the quarter in :26 and the half in :54.4. Driver Braxten Boyd vacated the three-hole midway down the backstretch and roared up to challenge, taking over just past the 1:21.3 three-quarters while pacing the eighth of a mile he covered in taking the lead in the vicinity of 13 seconds. Girldad came up the inside late to finish second, 2¾ lengths behind the winner and 1¼ lengths ahead of the favorite Strengthfromabove, who rode in the pocket, backed out after the winner passed, but couldn’t make up ground.
 
Hungry Angel Boy earned almost half of his lifetime bankroll by finishing second to Horse of the Confederate in last year’s Meadowlands Pace. He is now trained by Nicholas Devita for Eric Prevost and Pit Bull Stable LLC.
 
When your bet requiring selection of the first five finishers in order, called a Pentafecta at Pocono, is headed by a 12-1 shot and a 46-1 shot, you’d expect no one to have the winning combination. But between three days of Pentafecta carryovers and the first three choices in the race all getting checks behind the longshots, one Pocono bettor emerged with a lone 3-6-1-2-7 50-cent ticket, which returned a windfall of $10,244.50.
 
Braxten Boyd, who drove the feature race winner, and 15-time Pocono dashwinning champion George Napolitano Jr. each triumphed four times on the card, Napolitano doubling with horses conditioned by meet leader Jeff Cullipher, and Boyd adding a second triumph to the Devita barn. George now has a 104-103 lead for the meet over two-time defending champion Matt Kakaley, who left early to fulfill commitments at Yonkers; Boyd is now fifth in the standings with 71 wins, and it took solid days from the next two drivers above him, Tyler Buter (three wins) and Anthony Napolitano (two wins), to keep him from moving up; the last-named two are tied for third with 73 victories.
 
The next pari-mutuel racing at Pocono will come on Saturday at 1 p.m., but there will be racing excitement before then – the two-year-olds, ten fields strong, will come out for the first time in a 10 a.m. session on Wednesday. Both free Pocono programs and replays of the qualifying baby events can be accessed at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Elista Hanover continued her rum as the horse to beat among the Pennsylvania-sired three-year-old trotting fillies, winning for the fifth straight time in one of four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars contest in 1:54.3 over “sloppy” going Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
Jeff Gregory reserved the daughter of International Moni off the early pace of :28.2 and :57.3, then asked her to get into high gear, and “Elista” complied quickly, challenging for command by the 1:26.1 three-quarters and taking over late on the far bend. The filly won by 2¾ lengths over the closer Fannie Lipkowitz, and she now has won a Weiss Series Final, a Pennsylvania Sire Stake, and now an All-Stars event in her last three trips to the gate for trainer Annie Stoebe, co-owner with R. Lynn and Philomena Curry.
 
Two of the All-Stars contests went to horses driven by Matt Kakaley for trainer Åke Svanstedt. The Father Patrick miss Slip Sliding Away showed no ill effects from being away from the races for nearly seven months, getting stronger as she went nearer to her destination of the wire to win over Loveyoubunches in 1:55 for Marvin and Lynn Katz and Al Libfeld. Kakaley/Svanstedt also clicked with the Southwind Frank sophomore She Shaq, three-wide from late backstretch through most of the far turn and still winning by a neck over Cheval Rapide in 1:56 for Åke Svanstedt Inc., Little E LLC, and Matt Franklin.
 
The other All-Stars winner was the richest of the successful stakes quartet, the Bar Hopping filly Sambuca Hanover, who went to the lead for driver George Napolitano Jr. in front of the stands and won handily over The Moment in 1:55.2 to raise her earnings to $303,500 for trainer Nifty Norman and owners David McDuffee, Paul Bordogna, and Melvin Hartman.
 
Pocono’s leading driver, Matt Kakaley, had three winners, two of them as mentioned for Åke Svanstedt, and he was joined at that number by the leading driver at the other Eastern Pennsylvania track, Tim Tetrick, as the top man at Harrah’s Philly got two home first for trainer Noel Daley.
 
Pocono’s 1 p.m. card on Tuesday is topped by a $16,000 pace for developing horses, and those wagering into the track’s High-5 bet in the last race will find a carryover of over $2800 waiting in the pool. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – All five of the entrants in Sunday evening’s $14,500 fast-class trot at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania had faced each other in their last start, and for the second straight encounter Robbie Pev proved the best, here in 1:53.4.
 
Unlike last week, when the victorious Bar Hopping gelding waited until the stretch to forge to the lead, driver Jim Pantaleano had Robbie Pev moving at the :28.2 quarter, gained the top and put up midfractions of :57.1 and 1:25.1. Also unlike last week, the main threat to Robbie Pev’s dominance was Southwind Arturo, who made a second move uncovered down the backstretch and kept on coming, only to be a head short at the wire. The winner of four of his last seven starts, Robbie Pev’s bankroll now stands at $304.856 for trainer Jill Roland and owner Bernard O’Brien.
 
The feature race was one of the few on the eleven-race Pocono card which did not go to a member of the Napolitano clan. Pocono’s all-time leading driver George Napolitano Jr. rolled a natural Pick-Four right out of the gate en route to five wins on the night, narrowing the gap behind Matt Kakaley for the season to 100-97, while brother Anthony posted three triumphs to Tyler Buter’s one to tie Buter for third place in the local colony with 70 visits to Victory Lane.
 
The Memorial Day Monday holiday card begins at 1 p.m., and features four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars contest for three-year-old trotting fillies; Tuesday’s 1 p.m. performance will then close out the racing week. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The track was different, but the result remained the same – the Donato Hanover mare Chake shipped from Harrah’s Philly to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania and promptly recorded a 1:53.1 victory in the $14,500 fast-class trot to extend her winning streak to three.
 
Simon Allard was again in the sulky as Chake made two speed moves to and past the :27.3 opener, then yielded to favored Outside The Fire, who fronted the field through splits of :56.3 and 1:24.2. Emma Town Bud moved out on the final turn to challenge the leader, but it was Chake inside Outside The Fire who proved strongest by a neck, with Emma Time Bud just another neck behind. Per Engblom trains the winner for owner Daniel Sarafian.
 
Black Magic, a son of Full Count who had not raced in over six months, defied the basic bias of the day by closing from far back to win in 1:52.1, a new mark and also equaling Dame Good Time’s clocking as fastest trotting mile of the year at Pocono. Black Magic, whose win came in one of two $17,000 divisions of a trotting class for developing horses, now has earnings of $385,974, with Linda Toscano training for owners Richard Gutnick, Thomas Pontone, and Joseph Lozito Jr.
 
The other $17,000 trot saw Father Stosh fronting his field throughout, the son of Father Patrick winning in 1:54.2 for driver Marcus Miller, trainer Jill Roland, and owner Bernard O’Brien. There were a total of five sub-1:55 trots on the Saturday Pocono card, with Rich And Miserable and Seventier both getting in on the diagonally-gaited fun with 1:53.4 clockings.
 
High Voltage Deo’s 1:49.3 mile still stands alone as the fastest Pocono pace of the campaign – but just barely, as the Sweet Lou gelding Pyro, a winner of $758,045, went coast-to-coast in 1:49.4 for driver Marcus Miller and trainer/owner Gilbert Garcia-Herrera.
 
Seven different drivers visited Victory Lane in the first seven contests on the eleven-race card, and then George Napolitano Jr., Marcus Miller, Simon Allard, and Tyler Buter won the last four races of the day in that order to complete driving doubles.
 
There will be a carryover into the Pick-5 wager starting in race five and the Hi-5 bet in the last race during Sunday evening’s 6 p.m. program. Monday will see four $30,000 divisions of a Pennsylvania All-Stars event for three-year-old trotting fillies; that day’s program, as well as the week-closing card on Tuesday, starts at 1 p.m. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – Flawless remained flawless after three 2024 starts, winning the $13,500 featured pace at Harrah’s Philadelphia Friday afternoon in 1:52.
 
Andrew McCarthy moved past the :28.2 quarter with the sophomore Captaintreacherous filly and saw her pace her last three-quarters in 1:23 flat, posting middle fractions of :56.3 and 1:24.4 over a very quick Philly oval and then storm home in :27.1 to complete the mile three-quarters of a length over the hard-trying pocketsitter Hunting Hula, with Ginger Tree Liz just another length back after moving out and up from late on the backstretch.
 
Flawless was the Kentucky Commonwealth final winner in 2023, and now has a bankroll of $133,289 for trainer Nancy Takter and owners Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband.
 
Sweet Lexi Lou lowered her mark to 1:51.1, rallying strongly in the last eighth to catch first-over Ginger Tree Belle by a half-length in a $12,000 co-featured pace. Troy Beyer guided the three-year-old Sweet Lou filly, now successful in three of her last five starts, for trainer Chris Freck and owner Anthony Olswfski.
 
Shrimp And Grits had lost 23 races in a row before turning it around for red-hot trainer Izzy Estrada, with the Shadow Play gelding winning for the eighth time in his last nine starts in 1:52.1. David Miller sent the former $7500 claimer, now carrying a tag of $20,000, to the front in an $11,000 claiming handicap pace, then held off pocketsitting principal challenger Twin B Fighter by a neck for Estrada Racing.
 
Corey Callahan topped the sulky colony with three victories.
 
This Sunday is “Super Sunday” at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with a star-studded card of 16 races starting at 12:40. There are three $100,000 Invitationals – the Maxie Lee Memorial for trotters, the Joseph Auger Memorial for pacers, and the Betsy Ross for female pacers – along with many of the sport’s “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing males, gathering for Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action. Last year conditions were ideal, and several lines were altered in the record books, including Ruthless Hanover’s 1:46.3 world record win – this card has the kind of horses that could do more rewriting of records given good weather. Free Harrah’s Philly programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
CHESTER PA – The 1-2-3 finishers in the $13,000 featured trot Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia collectively went over the $5 million lifetime earnings milestone, as Eurobond ($728,400) defeated Crystal Fashion ($2,341,250) by three-quarters of a length, with JL Cruze ($1,938,160) another length back in third.
 
JL Cruze had the lead at the :27.1 quarter, with David Miller, a three-time winner on the day, sending favored Eurobond frontbound in front of the stands and getting to the half in :55.2. Crystal Fashion, who had tucked fourth early, went up uncovered to challenge before the 1:23.2 three-quarters and tried hard but couldn’t get by the winner, with JL Cruze keeping up fairly well after his pocket trip.
 
Eurobond is a son of Love You trained by Per Engblom for Morrison Racing Stables. He is nine, as is Crystal Fashion; JL Cruze is still in the fight against tough stock at age thirteen.
 
In the $11,000 trotting fast-class subfeature, The Gruffalo overcame a tuck-then-first-up journey, holding off favored Sinatra De Vie by a neck at the end of a 1:53.4 mile. The victorious son of Chapter Seven was driven by Andrew McCarthy for trainer Mark Harder, who is also co-owner with Racing Team Of America, Deena Frost, and Emma Pettersson.
 
There were a pair of $12,000 events for developing horses, one on each gait, and both won by Tim Tetrick, who rang up a total of five triumphs on the day to extend his meet lead over David Miller to 32-28.
 
 On the trot, the Father Patrick sophomore gelding I’m Out worked hard to get the lead, set the rest of the pace, then withstood G Load by a half-length for Triple D Stables Inc. and Joe Faraldo while lowering his mark to 1:55. Winning trainer Scott Di Domenico had a pair of victories (both driven by Tetrick), and was joined as a conditioning doubler in the last race by Bill MacKenzie.
 
On the pace, Fasnacht Hanover took advantage of chief rival Who Said I Can’t drifting out at several points in the race, with that one still finishing second but no match for the winning Stay Hungry sophomore colt. Fasnacht Hanover earned a new speed badge of 1:52 for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Marvin & Lynn Katz and Brad Grant.
 
Once again the “Trottin’ Thursday” slogan at Philly was out in full force effect, as there were five miles in 1:55 or better on the diagonal gait.
 
Action will resume at Philly on Friday at 12:25 p.m, with a carryover into the fifth race Pick-5. And of course everybody is gearing up for this week’s gigantic “Super Sunday” card – which will feature, among a very large cast, Ruthless Hanover, Desperate Man, Twin B Joe Fresh, Captain Albano, and Gem Quality, to name just a few. The 16-race card, which begins at 12:40 p.m., will be offering $657,571 to North America’s top pacers and trotters. Free Harrah’s programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
​CHESTER PA – This Sunday afternoon (May 26) Harrah’s Philadelphia will be proud to present the best racing card of its 2024 season, and arguably one of the top programs anywhere in North America to date this year, when $657,571 will be on the line during a star-studded 16-race card that begins at 12:40 p.m.
 
Here’s an overview of the three $100,000 Invitational events for the fastest established performers in the sport, along with third leg action of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes/Stallion Series racing for the “glamour division,” the three-year-old pacing males, plus other top racing on the Super Sunday card:
 
$100,000 BETSY ROSS INVITATIONAL PACE for mares (race 11)
 
The attention in the Betsy Ross will likely be focused on two horses. One is Twin B Joe Fresh, a $1.4-million winner at two and three while having many memorable battles with archrival Sylvia Hanover. Second to the streaking male pacer Macs Delight in her 2024 bow here last week and a winner of the Fan Duel Pace against older adversaries last year, Twin B Joe Fresh will be starting from post three Sunday, with Dexter Dunn slated for sulky duty for trainer Chris Ryder.
 
Lit De Rose has won over $260,000 already in 2024, with roughly half of those earnings resulting from her victory in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series Final at Yonkers last month. Herself an earner of nearly $1.2 million in her career, Lit De Rose will begin from post five for trainer/driver Pat Lachance.
 
$100,000 MAXIE LEE MEMORIAL TROT (race 12)
 
Hillexotic won the 2023 Maxie Lee Trot in 1:50.2, equaling the 2014 mile of Market Share as the fastest trotting clocking ever at Harrah’s Philly. He set the pace in the recent Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands before tiring, but earlier he posted four straight wins over two seasons, including a win at the Dayton Derby. Both driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke have won the Lee four times, including last year’s success with Hillexotic, so they know the way to the Philly winners circle as their horse begins from post two.
 
Hillexotic has earned over a million dollars, as has Venerate; Amigo Volo has bankrolled over $2 million. But sure to attract some notice is a horse who has yet to amass $100,000: Benjamin Hanover, who on April 25 here set a four-year-old trotting gelding track record of 1:51.2, and who won last week at The Meadowlands in 1:50.3.
 
$100,000 JOSEPH AUGER MEMORIAL PACE (race 13)
 
Last year in the Auger Memorial Ruthless Hanover paced the fastest time ever over a 5/8-mile track when he toured the Philly oval in 1:46.3. He made his seasonal debut last week after being away from the races for six months, and all he did was go right out and win in 1:47.1. He stands as the horse to beat from driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Tom Cancelliere.
 
The horses on the far inside and far outside seem to have the best chance against Ruthless Hanover. Desperate Man is five-for-six in 2024, losing only when parked the mile in the Borgata Final and still third; having to surmount the far outside in his 2024 bow will be Bythemissal, last year’s champion Older Pacing Male. Desperate Man is a millionaire; Bythemissal has earned over $2 million.
 
OTHER HIGHLIGHT RACES
 
The third preliminary of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series will be held Sunday, with three divisions of the $154,571 Sire Stakes and six $20,000 Stallion Series sections. Each has one division that on paper seems tougher than the others.
 
In the Sire Stakes, the tenth race cut features Captain Albano, last year’s two-year-old pacing male champion who won a Sire Stakes in his debut at Pocono last week; Breeders Crown champion Gem Quality, another PaSS winner at Pocono and also triumphant in a PA All-Stars race at that track in his two starts this year; plus two horses who have won Sire Stakes leg each, Booming Economy and Sweet Beach Life. Rush In, the only double Sire Stakes winner, draws away from the “toughies” in race four.
 
In the Stallion Series action, Women Layer, undefeated in five starts this year including his two StS contests to date (the only double winner) and an All-Stars division, squares off in race nine against Stallion Series leg winners Copperfield and War Machine.
 
There is a $50,000 Invitational pace called the #senditin Philadelphia pace, with a field that would be the envy of most every racetrack on this continent. Andrew McCarthy and Tom Cancelliere team up again behind another major player, Maximus Miki, 10-6-2-2 this year and coming off a 1:48 victory at The Meadowlands. Millionaires Backstreet Shadow and I Did It Myway are also in the #senditin.
 
 
Serious fans of great harness racing will want to be checking out the Super Sunday card at Harrah’s Philadelphia. Free Philly programs are or will be available at www.phha,org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – Flash Move, whose last start of his 2023 campaign was a 1:50 victory in the Pennsylvania Stallion Series Championship for sophomore pacing males, bettered that time by a tick while taking a new mark in the $15,000 pacing feature on Tuesday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
Andrew McCarthy got the Heston Blue Chip gelding away fourth, watching Strengthfromabove kept Allabamajamma outside through a :26.2 quarter, then letting him go to sit the pocket as the pacesetter hit the half in :54.3. Flash Move was put into first-over grind mode before, though, and past the 1:22.1 three-quarters, battling the leader.
 
There was not much difference between those two entering the stretch, and then Strengthfromabove got access to the Pocono Pike and worked to a short lead just past midstretch. But Flash Move continued to give his best and outpaced that innermost rival by a neck, with Alabamajamma holding for third, another 1½ lengths back. Flash Move is owned by trainer Robert Cleary along with Royal Wire Products Inc.
 
Tyler Buter and Anthony Napolitano guided three winners apiece on Tuesday. In an unusual pattern for the four-day racing week, each card yielded five drivers who had at least two winners, but Buter and Napolitano’s daily total of three was equaled only by Kakaley on Saturday. The meet’s leading driver, Kakaley was also the only pilot to have at least two successes each day.
 
Racing resumes at Pocono Downs with a Saturday program at 1 p.m.; the current schedule finds racing at the mountain oval on Saturdays, Mondays, and Tuesdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. Free Pocono programs are available at www.phha.org.

By: Jerry Connors, Jr. 
WILKES-BARRE PA – The three-year-old Bar Hopping gelding Attis Rock overcame the tough tuck-then-first-over journey to win the $15,000 featured trot in 1:54.4 on Monday afternoon at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
 
Braxten Boyd kept the sophomore in third as EL Mission Goddess went on a first-end mission with early fractions of :28.2 and :57.3. Attis Rock moved to the outside before the 1:25.4 three-quarters, then showed gameness to defeat pocketsitter King Tut Hanover by a small nose, with EL Mission Goddess only  a half-length back in third. The winner posted a lifetime best for his 93-years-young trainer/owner Don Wiest.
 
On a sunny afternoon with temperatures near 80, the Pocono oval produced a speed show on a trotter-laden card. The diagonally-gaited horses produced no fewer than six miles in 1:55 or faster, and across a variety of classes. Besides the feature, a third-level conditioned trot went in 1:53.1 (Rich And Miserable) and a second-level contest went in 1:53.2 (Joey); even the bottom-level conditioned trot went in 1:55.2. A mid-level claiming contest saw Big Sky Ex victorious in 1:55.
 
And in four “nw 1 race or $10,000” trots, all the winners recorded lifetime bests: Naked Cowboy in 1:54.4, Du Maurier in 1:55, and 1:55.3 winners St Pauli Girl and Drawing Rights. The pacers did get their chance to shine as well, as a third-level conditioned event went Rifleman, who took a mark of 1:50.
 
Racing closes out the week at Pocono with a 1 p.m. card Tuesday; the horses then will be back in action on Saturday, also at 1 p.m. Free Pocono programs will be available at www.phha,org.