By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
CHESTER PA – The thirteen-year-old Real Desire gelding Real Lucky N is still living up to his sire’s name nearing the end of his career, taking the $12,500 Championship of a series for $10,000 claimers in 1:53.4 under less-than-perfect conditions at Harrah’s Philadelphia Sunday.
Real Lucky N (post two) and Stretch The Line (post seven) were sent off as 9-5 second choice and 3-2 favorite respectively, both coming off wins their last two prelims, and while Stretch The Line had a short lad nearing turn one, Real Lucky N and driver George Napolitano Jr. took advantage of track geometry, forcing Stretch The Line to take the two-hole before a :27.2 quarter. The greybeard backed off the half to :57.1, then with the wind at his back continued to a three-quarters of 1:25, with Olive And A Twist vacating third to try to gain uncovered and the chalk still tight in the pocket.
But nobody was getting to Real Lucky N, as the veteran won by two lengths , with Stretch The Line downing Olive And A Twist for second. The rest of the field, despite having won at least once in the prelims, could not reach major factor status. Trainer Bob Belcher conditions Real Lucky N for owner William Hartt.
A pair of series consolations was raced for $10,000 purses. Consolation I, which had four series prelim winners in it, saw none of those four in the stretch fight for major honors – instead Ishotthesheriff GB (2-2-3 in prelims) edged out Double Up N (also 2-2-3 in his prelim starts), getting the nod by three parts of a length in 1:53.1. The victorious altered son of Henry Hill, who succeeded despite being three-wide from the five-eighths, was the co-longest shot on the board and returned $48.20 to win for driver Jack Pelling, trainer William Andrews, and owner Howard Taylor.
In series consolation II, Sea Storm lived up to her name early, storming away to force seats in a :26.4 quarter, then rated the half, following up with a :56.4 back half to win in 1:54.4 The Bettor’s Delight mare’s stablemate in the meet-leading barn of Izzy Estrada, Idiosyncratic, was second to the Estrada Racing LLC-owned winner, who has two wins and a second since coming south to the hot stable. None of the horses in this consolation won in the prelim action, but Sea Storm had won her last race – in a distaff claiming handicap pace.
A $16,000 handicap trot for the fast class brought together three horses who attracted the bulk of the wagering attention and who were certainly in winning form: Little Expensive and My Man Peter had both won three of their last four starts, while Lefties Righties had captured four of his last six. On Sunday it was Little Expensive who added another “W” to his record, taking the lead early then trying to bottom out the field in the last half. The tactic was successful in the :56.1 back half, as the winning Muscle Hill gelding held off a charging My Man Peter by a neck, with Lefties Righties, a sophomore, doing well in the two-hole to be only another three quarters of a length behind. Julie Miller conditions the 11-time seasonal winner for Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen, and VIP Internet Stable LLC.
Top purse of the day for overnight pacers was the $13,500 offered to developing horses, won easily by the Captain Crunch sophomore gelding Captain Luffy in 1:54.1. Meet leader Tim Tetrick quickly grabbed command with the three-year-old, second in the Liberty Bell and fourth in the Simpson within his last few starts, and didn’t have serious opposition late as he tallied for trainer Travis Alexander and Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC.
Fast-class pacers had their moment in the spotlight in an $11,000 event, with the Roll With Joe gelding Ignatius A victorious in 1:52. Johnathan Ahle got the veteran sidewheeler away in the two-hole, then ducked to the inside, grabbed the lead, and withstood Soho Spectre A, who was making his U.S. debut. Ignatius A, now a 53-time career winner at age eleven, is trained and owned by Noel Daley.
Tim Tetrick and Simon Alard both had driving doubles. In an unusual occurrence, more trainers than drivers had two-baggers – Travis Alexander had both of his success stories driven by Tetrick, while Bob Belcher and Izzy Estrada each had different drivers for their winners circle visits.
Harrah’s Philly will be racing on Thursday and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40 this coming week and next; there will then be some variation as the year-end holidays approach. Thursday’s card will feature top diamondgaiters in many classes in the track’s usual “Trottin’ Thursday” presentation. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
CHESTER PA – The thirteen-year-old Real Desire gelding Real Lucky N is still living up to his sire’s name nearing the end of his career, taking the $12,500 Championship of a series for $10,000 claimers in 1:53.4 under less-than-perfect conditions at Harrah’s Philadelphia Sunday.
Real Lucky N (post two) and Stretch The Line (post seven) were sent off as 9-5 second choice and 3-2 favorite respectively, both coming off wins their last two prelims, and while Stretch The Line had a short lad nearing turn one, Real Lucky N and driver George Napolitano Jr. took advantage of track geometry, forcing Stretch The Line to take the two-hole before a :27.2 quarter. The greybeard backed off the half to :57.1, then with the wind at his back continued to a three-quarters of 1:25, with Olive And A Twist vacating third to try to gain uncovered and the chalk still tight in the pocket.
But nobody was getting to Real Lucky N, as the veteran won by two lengths , with Stretch The Line downing Olive And A Twist for second. The rest of the field, despite having won at least once in the prelims, could not reach major factor status. Trainer Bob Belcher conditions Real Lucky N for owner William Hartt.
A pair of series consolations was raced for $10,000 purses. Consolation I, which had four series prelim winners in it, saw none of those four in the stretch fight for major honors – instead Ishotthesheriff GB (2-2-3 in prelims) edged out Double Up N (also 2-2-3 in his prelim starts), getting the nod by three parts of a length in 1:53.1. The victorious altered son of Henry Hill, who succeeded despite being three-wide from the five-eighths, was the co-longest shot on the board and returned $48.20 to win for driver Jack Pelling, trainer William Andrews, and owner Howard Taylor.
In series consolation II, Sea Storm lived up to her name early, storming away to force seats in a :26.4 quarter, then rated the half, following up with a :56.4 back half to win in 1:54.4 The Bettor’s Delight mare’s stablemate in the meet-leading barn of Izzy Estrada, Idiosyncratic, was second to the Estrada Racing LLC-owned winner, who has two wins and a second since coming south to the hot stable. None of the horses in this consolation won in the prelim action, but Sea Storm had won her last race – in a distaff claiming handicap pace.
A $16,000 handicap trot for the fast class brought together three horses who attracted the bulk of the wagering attention and who were certainly in winning form: Little Expensive and My Man Peter had both won three of their last four starts, while Lefties Righties had captured four of his last six. On Sunday it was Little Expensive who added another “W” to his record, taking the lead early then trying to bottom out the field in the last half. The tactic was successful in the :56.1 back half, as the winning Muscle Hill gelding held off a charging My Man Peter by a neck, with Lefties Righties, a sophomore, doing well in the two-hole to be only another three quarters of a length behind. Julie Miller conditions the 11-time seasonal winner for Andy Miller Stable Inc., Jean Goehlen, and VIP Internet Stable LLC.
Top purse of the day for overnight pacers was the $13,500 offered to developing horses, won easily by the Captain Crunch sophomore gelding Captain Luffy in 1:54.1. Meet leader Tim Tetrick quickly grabbed command with the three-year-old, second in the Liberty Bell and fourth in the Simpson within his last few starts, and didn’t have serious opposition late as he tallied for trainer Travis Alexander and Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC.
Fast-class pacers had their moment in the spotlight in an $11,000 event, with the Roll With Joe gelding Ignatius A victorious in 1:52. Johnathan Ahle got the veteran sidewheeler away in the two-hole, then ducked to the inside, grabbed the lead, and withstood Soho Spectre A, who was making his U.S. debut. Ignatius A, now a 53-time career winner at age eleven, is trained and owned by Noel Daley.
Tim Tetrick and Simon Alard both had driving doubles. In an unusual occurrence, more trainers than drivers had two-baggers – Travis Alexander had both of his success stories driven by Tetrick, while Bob Belcher and Izzy Estrada each had different drivers for their winners circle visits.
Harrah’s Philly will be racing on Thursday and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40 this coming week and next; there will then be some variation as the year-end holidays approach. Thursday’s card will feature top diamondgaiters in many classes in the track’s usual “Trottin’ Thursday” presentation. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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