By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
CHESTER PA – Distaff pacers were in the feature spotlight the most on an overcast but rainless Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
A $13,000 handicap pace for fast-class mares gave the Sweet Lou distaff Sweetnikkilou A a perfect showcase for her talents in her North American debut, winning in 1:50.2. Driven by Andrew McCarthy for trainer Nifty Norman and his Enzed Racing Stable Inc., Sweetnikkilou A sat behind pacesetting Factory Girl through fractions of :27.2, :55.3, and 1:23.3, then paced her own last quarter in :26.3, without much apparent urging, to go by the stubborn leader by a half length.
Developing younger females were in two of the three $12,000 subfeatures. The quicker was She’s A Rich Girl, a royally-bred sophomore (by Captaintreacherous out of My Little Dragon, she a full sister to Treacherous Dragon and a three-quarter sister to Stay Hungry, a Standardbred Million Dollar Quartet). Tim Tetrick quarter-moved with the Linda Toscano trainee and came home in :56.3-:27.4 to win easily in 1:52.1 for owners Richard and Joanne Young.
The other pacing subfeature split was won by the Tall Dark Stranger filly Kissin In The Dark, who made an early move around leader Carolina, then held off the late comeback of that one by a half length with a :27.3 last quarter, establishing a new mark of 1:52.4. George Napolitano Jr. drove the winner for trainer Doug Dilloian Jr. and the partnership of Dilloian Stable LLC, Brian Loman, and Robert Venable.
The other subfeature was a trot, in which Lady Suffolk winner Ygritte kept her seasonal tab perfect after three starts with a 1:54 triumph. Mattias Melander got a :27.2 third quarter out of the Gimpanzee filly to reach contention, then took the lead, holding off 40-1 shot Saint Patrick by a length for trainer-brother Marcus and the partnership of S R F Stable and Eric Good.
Tim Tetrick, who has driven a winner in one of the Invitational races during eleven of the seventeen years of Philly’s Super Sunday (see next paragraph), got a nice warmup and furthered his meet-topping total by leading the local pilots with three victories Friday. Troy Beyer, Mark Herschberger, Andrew McCarthy, and George Napolitano Jr. visited the winners circle twice. Trainers harnessing two winners included Jason Brewer (both driven by Herschberger), Izzy Estrada (both handled by Beyer), and Nancy Takter.
Harrah’s Philadelphia will host what is arguably the best card in North American harness racing so far in 2026 this Sunday afternoon, with a 12:40 start to the track’s signature Super Sunday program. Over $600,000 in purses will be on the line, including three $100,000 events for the top free-for-allers: the Maxie Lee Memorial Trot, the Betsy Ross Pace for mares, and the Joseph Auger Memorial Pace – the horses in the three free-for-alls have aggregate lifetime earnings of over $20 million.
There will also be PA-sired action for the three-year-old pacing males in the Sire Stakes and Stallion Series programs. A Sire Stakes race will kick off a $10,000 Guaranteed Pick 4 wager in race ten, with the three Invitationals comprising the remainder of the bet in the following three races. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org. This is one harness program you will not want to miss!
CHESTER PA – Distaff pacers were in the feature spotlight the most on an overcast but rainless Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
A $13,000 handicap pace for fast-class mares gave the Sweet Lou distaff Sweetnikkilou A a perfect showcase for her talents in her North American debut, winning in 1:50.2. Driven by Andrew McCarthy for trainer Nifty Norman and his Enzed Racing Stable Inc., Sweetnikkilou A sat behind pacesetting Factory Girl through fractions of :27.2, :55.3, and 1:23.3, then paced her own last quarter in :26.3, without much apparent urging, to go by the stubborn leader by a half length.
Developing younger females were in two of the three $12,000 subfeatures. The quicker was She’s A Rich Girl, a royally-bred sophomore (by Captaintreacherous out of My Little Dragon, she a full sister to Treacherous Dragon and a three-quarter sister to Stay Hungry, a Standardbred Million Dollar Quartet). Tim Tetrick quarter-moved with the Linda Toscano trainee and came home in :56.3-:27.4 to win easily in 1:52.1 for owners Richard and Joanne Young.
The other pacing subfeature split was won by the Tall Dark Stranger filly Kissin In The Dark, who made an early move around leader Carolina, then held off the late comeback of that one by a half length with a :27.3 last quarter, establishing a new mark of 1:52.4. George Napolitano Jr. drove the winner for trainer Doug Dilloian Jr. and the partnership of Dilloian Stable LLC, Brian Loman, and Robert Venable.
The other subfeature was a trot, in which Lady Suffolk winner Ygritte kept her seasonal tab perfect after three starts with a 1:54 triumph. Mattias Melander got a :27.2 third quarter out of the Gimpanzee filly to reach contention, then took the lead, holding off 40-1 shot Saint Patrick by a length for trainer-brother Marcus and the partnership of S R F Stable and Eric Good.
Tim Tetrick, who has driven a winner in one of the Invitational races during eleven of the seventeen years of Philly’s Super Sunday (see next paragraph), got a nice warmup and furthered his meet-topping total by leading the local pilots with three victories Friday. Troy Beyer, Mark Herschberger, Andrew McCarthy, and George Napolitano Jr. visited the winners circle twice. Trainers harnessing two winners included Jason Brewer (both driven by Herschberger), Izzy Estrada (both handled by Beyer), and Nancy Takter.
Harrah’s Philadelphia will host what is arguably the best card in North American harness racing so far in 2026 this Sunday afternoon, with a 12:40 start to the track’s signature Super Sunday program. Over $600,000 in purses will be on the line, including three $100,000 events for the top free-for-allers: the Maxie Lee Memorial Trot, the Betsy Ross Pace for mares, and the Joseph Auger Memorial Pace – the horses in the three free-for-alls have aggregate lifetime earnings of over $20 million.
There will also be PA-sired action for the three-year-old pacing males in the Sire Stakes and Stallion Series programs. A Sire Stakes race will kick off a $10,000 Guaranteed Pick 4 wager in race ten, with the three Invitationals comprising the remainder of the bet in the following three races. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org. This is one harness program you will not want to miss!
RSS Feed
