CHESTER PA – The pairing of “Down Under wonders,” Australian Andrew McCarthy and New Zealander Kelvin “Red” Harrison, were the top newsmakers at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon, with McCarthy driving five straight winners on the card, and Harrison training four of them.
Three of the four Harrison trainees that McCarthy guided to victory – Bigonpersonality N, Persimmon A, and Claytons Bettor N – were their race’s favorite, and their fourth combination, Bettor Trix N, was a second choice. McCarthy’s fifth winner, Eddard Hanover, was also a second choice for trainer Jeff Cullipher; all of the victorious quintet raced on the engine except for Bettor Trix N, who was a pocket rocket.
A pair of $11,200 paces for younger horses were the top purse events of the day. In the section for distaffs, the Western Ideal mare Avaya Hanover rallied from the two-hole for driver Marcus Miller to overhaul favorite Break The Deal in 1:53.4 for trainer/owner Cote Keim, while the male group was fronted from the quarter by the American Ideal gelding Mancount, who took a new mark of 1:51.3 for driver Anthony Napolitano and trainer/owner Trevor Stafford. Both Miller and Napolitano put together driving triples at Philly on Friday.
The twelve-year-old McArdle stallion Mcerlean became harness racing’s newest millionaire when he won for Andrew McCarthy’s brother Todd. Trained by Darran Cassar for Muscara Racing Trust, Mcerlean moved his lifetime tally to $1,004,130 -- $942.507 of that for the Muscara family -- with his 47th career victory.
The best card of the young reason season will be held at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, with half of the races not out of place as a feature event at most ovals. First post will be at 12:40 p.m.; program pages will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.