By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
CHESTER PA – Five-wide almost to the 3/16; four-wide almost to the quarter; three-wide until heading towards the 3/8; then two-wide until gaining the lead and the inside going into the second turn. And then having the second choice coming right at you up the inside late, getting to near-even in deep stretch.
It takes a special horse to dig down and find more to give after a horrorshow trip like that. But that’s just what the Papi Rob Hanover mare Gigglingonthebeach did, edging Wise Professor by the smallest possible margin in 1:52.1 to win the $14,000 top fast-class distaff pace Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Wise Professor was the mare just inside Gigglingonthebeach through the early fireworks of :26.4 and :54.3, so she certainly had to do hard work as well. But Gigglingonthebeach, once on top, made the three-quarters in 1:23.2 and then gave a classic display of courage in winning for driver Mark Herschberger, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm. (Give yourself a treat and watch the replay of the race.)
The $11,500 fast-class subfeature for the sidewheeling females saw the Captaintreacherous mare Princess Stella lay just off an early duel for the lead, then brush to the top under the wire the first time, maintaining the lead until going under the wire the second time. The time of 1:51.4 was just a fifth of a second off the lifetime best of Princess Stella, who earned a sweep of the top veteran classes for driver Mark Herschberger, sulkysitting for trainer Kelvin “Red” Harrison and owner Richard Poillucci. The early battle took such a toll on the major contenders that 112-1 shot Prideful was able to rally for second, although not menacing.
She’s A Rich Girl, a full sister to Treacherous Dragon and a three-quarter sister to Stay Hungry, showed the quality in her pedigree in finding enough to turn back a competitive group in a $12,000 distaff pace fo developing horses. Another Captaintreacherous distaff, the filly saw off all challenges to win in 1:52 for driven Johnathan Ahle, trainer Linda Toscano, and owners Richard Young and Joanne Young.
Trainer Scott Di Domenico achieved his milestone 3000th win on the card with Calvin Hanover, a day after Chris Ryder notched #2000 here. The 43-year-old Di Domenico, a native of Illinois, is well on his way to his 15th consecutive season of 100+ training wins, with his best year coming in 2019, when he won 305 races and $4.7 million, which contributed greatly to his lifetime earnings of over $46 million. Scott becomes the 19thtrainer (11th on the “active” list), according to USTA PATHWAY records, to have conditioned 3000 winners.
Johnathan Ahle had four wins on the program to top the driving crew; one of them came for Per Engblom, who conditioned two winners. Mark Herschberger had three victories, including both of trainer Ivan Llopez’s success stories. Jim Marohn Jr. had a driving double, including being the pilot behind Calvin Hanover, Scott Di Domenic’s 3000thwinner.
The closing card of the week at Harrah’s Philly will take place at 12:40 on Sunday, with a talented mixture of pacing males in both the fast-class and developing categories. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
CHESTER PA – Five-wide almost to the 3/16; four-wide almost to the quarter; three-wide until heading towards the 3/8; then two-wide until gaining the lead and the inside going into the second turn. And then having the second choice coming right at you up the inside late, getting to near-even in deep stretch.
It takes a special horse to dig down and find more to give after a horrorshow trip like that. But that’s just what the Papi Rob Hanover mare Gigglingonthebeach did, edging Wise Professor by the smallest possible margin in 1:52.1 to win the $14,000 top fast-class distaff pace Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Wise Professor was the mare just inside Gigglingonthebeach through the early fireworks of :26.4 and :54.3, so she certainly had to do hard work as well. But Gigglingonthebeach, once on top, made the three-quarters in 1:23.2 and then gave a classic display of courage in winning for driver Mark Herschberger, trainer Juan Cano, and Hot Lead Farm. (Give yourself a treat and watch the replay of the race.)
The $11,500 fast-class subfeature for the sidewheeling females saw the Captaintreacherous mare Princess Stella lay just off an early duel for the lead, then brush to the top under the wire the first time, maintaining the lead until going under the wire the second time. The time of 1:51.4 was just a fifth of a second off the lifetime best of Princess Stella, who earned a sweep of the top veteran classes for driver Mark Herschberger, sulkysitting for trainer Kelvin “Red” Harrison and owner Richard Poillucci. The early battle took such a toll on the major contenders that 112-1 shot Prideful was able to rally for second, although not menacing.
She’s A Rich Girl, a full sister to Treacherous Dragon and a three-quarter sister to Stay Hungry, showed the quality in her pedigree in finding enough to turn back a competitive group in a $12,000 distaff pace fo developing horses. Another Captaintreacherous distaff, the filly saw off all challenges to win in 1:52 for driven Johnathan Ahle, trainer Linda Toscano, and owners Richard Young and Joanne Young.
Trainer Scott Di Domenico achieved his milestone 3000th win on the card with Calvin Hanover, a day after Chris Ryder notched #2000 here. The 43-year-old Di Domenico, a native of Illinois, is well on his way to his 15th consecutive season of 100+ training wins, with his best year coming in 2019, when he won 305 races and $4.7 million, which contributed greatly to his lifetime earnings of over $46 million. Scott becomes the 19thtrainer (11th on the “active” list), according to USTA PATHWAY records, to have conditioned 3000 winners.
Johnathan Ahle had four wins on the program to top the driving crew; one of them came for Per Engblom, who conditioned two winners. Mark Herschberger had three victories, including both of trainer Ivan Llopez’s success stories. Jim Marohn Jr. had a driving double, including being the pilot behind Calvin Hanover, Scott Di Domenic’s 3000thwinner.
The closing card of the week at Harrah’s Philly will take place at 12:40 on Sunday, with a talented mixture of pacing males in both the fast-class and developing categories. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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