CHESTER PA – Of the four winners Hall of Famer David Miller drove on the Wednesday afternoon card at Harrah’s Philadelphia, three of them were victorious in $30,000 divisions of the John Simpson Memorial for three-year-olds. Two of them came on the trot, both of them daughters of Triumphant Caviar trained by Chris Beaver.
First up was Back Splash, who rallied from the pocket to go by pacesetting Stella Jane by a length while equaling her lifetime best of 1:54 for the ownership of Beaver, Donald Robinson, Steven Zeehandelar, and R.B.H. Ventures Inc. Beaver and Zeehandelar are also the owners of Pure Chance, who followed up on a win at Delaware OH by taking a new mark of 1:54.1 in another Simpson cut. She had the largest margin of victory in a stakes all day, crossing the wire 2¾ lengths ahead of American Kronos after tailing that one from the pocket most of the way.
The third Simpson trot winner was Sweet Chapter, a starter in the Hambletonian Oaks final, who was sent to the lead in front of the stands by driver George Brennan and had a 1¼ length advantage over Hanovers Best at the end of a mile in 1:54.2, which gave the daughter of Chapter Seven a new speed badge. Blake MacIntosh trains the winner, now a winner of over $200,000, and co-owns her with Hutt Racing Stable and Mortgage Boys Stable.
The other stakes winner for driver David Miller was the pacer Trillions Hanover, who has now won four stakes starts in a row after coming from well back, not the easiest route to victory at Philly, to defeat Philly Hanover by a half-length in 1:52. Tom Fanning is the trainer of the daughter of Somebeachsomewhere, who has ten career wins and $246,905 in earnings for VIP Internet Stable LLC, Falcon Racing LLC, and Paul Lang.
Somebeachsomewhere was also the sire of the lone stakes-winning filly who was not the crowd favorite, Another Beach Day, who came a long way uncovered and still was able to go past pacesetting So Awesome by 1½ lengths while posting her fastest win time ever, 1:52.3. Yannick Gingras guided the Ron Burke trainee for owners Michael Hall, CTC Stable, Howard Taylor, and Let It Ride Stables Inc.
The stakes day opened with the A Rocknroll Dance filly Rockn Philly being on top of her game, making an early move to command and withstanding the inside rallier JK American Beauty late to win by a neck in 1:52.1. Victor Kirby drove the winner of $282,004 for trainer Jim King Jr. and the ownership of Tim Tetrick LLC and Jo Ann Looney-King.