By: Jerry Connors, Jr.
CHESTER PA – Imaginary Line had to pay a big price to get the lead in the $12,000 feature Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but he proved to have enough to get the job done in 1:51.1 on an afternoon replete with game horses in high-priced claiming races.
A winner in this class from post six last week, Imaginary Line had to start from the outside post seven Friday because of his $45,000 price tag, and indeed a battle for early supremacy saw the Betting Line gelding parked well past a :26.2 opener to get the top. The track’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, guided Imaginary Line to the half in :54.4, and then the leader came under uncovered attack from favored Glacis, with Frontier Rollo, second to Imaginary Line last week, in the pocket at the 1:23 three-quarters. But the pacesetter tenaciously held his lead to the wire for trainer Chuck Crissman Jr. and owner Rodney Long, winning by three quarters of a length over Glacis, who photoed out Frontier Rollo for the deuce.
There were two races for high-priced pacers contesting $11,500. The Alta Christiano gelding Ronaldo N yielded early to sit a pocket trip behind Trip Hammer, then inherited the lead at the half when the favorite suddenly lost his bearings. Ronaldo N needed no other luck, taking off down the backstretch from driver Jack Pelling, and winning handily in 1:50.3, making him perfect in two starts since being claimed by trainer Bill Mullin, also co-owner with Carver Racing LLC.
In the other sector, A Fair Ol Dance N showed good gate speed to make the top, then survived stretch challenges two deep inside and three high outside to record the win in 1:52. The on-a-roll combination of driver Simon Allard and trainer-owner Mark Akins got the victory in their third start after a claim of the gelded son of A Rocknroll Dance. Allard, fourth in the Philly driver standings, won five times on the card; three of them were for Akins, who now stands at number two in the conditioners ranks.
In one of the $11,000 divisions, the He’s Watching gelding Chucky Hanover joined the barn of the track’s leading trainer, Dean Eckley, then survived a brutal trip where he never saw the rail and won with courage in 1:51. George Napolitano Jr. kept the horse going for owner Ameer Najor. The other purse race for this purse for the claimers was captured by the American Ideal gelding Mindtrip, who overcame a 33-day layoff and a bias against closers to storm home from far back for a 1:51.3 success for driver Jack Pelling and trainer-owner Bruce Lauer.
Sunday’s 12:40 racing card will find a field with an average lifetime mark of 1:49.2 possibly threatening that number in a competitive $14,000 feature; there will also be a $2281.95 carryover into the first race Pick 4 wager. It is noted that post time for the next two Fridays at Philly, the 20th and 27th, will be at 6:30 p.m. Free Philly programs are or will be available at www.phha.org.
CHESTER PA – Imaginary Line had to pay a big price to get the lead in the $12,000 feature Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but he proved to have enough to get the job done in 1:51.1 on an afternoon replete with game horses in high-priced claiming races.
A winner in this class from post six last week, Imaginary Line had to start from the outside post seven Friday because of his $45,000 price tag, and indeed a battle for early supremacy saw the Betting Line gelding parked well past a :26.2 opener to get the top. The track’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, guided Imaginary Line to the half in :54.4, and then the leader came under uncovered attack from favored Glacis, with Frontier Rollo, second to Imaginary Line last week, in the pocket at the 1:23 three-quarters. But the pacesetter tenaciously held his lead to the wire for trainer Chuck Crissman Jr. and owner Rodney Long, winning by three quarters of a length over Glacis, who photoed out Frontier Rollo for the deuce.
There were two races for high-priced pacers contesting $11,500. The Alta Christiano gelding Ronaldo N yielded early to sit a pocket trip behind Trip Hammer, then inherited the lead at the half when the favorite suddenly lost his bearings. Ronaldo N needed no other luck, taking off down the backstretch from driver Jack Pelling, and winning handily in 1:50.3, making him perfect in two starts since being claimed by trainer Bill Mullin, also co-owner with Carver Racing LLC.
In the other sector, A Fair Ol Dance N showed good gate speed to make the top, then survived stretch challenges two deep inside and three high outside to record the win in 1:52. The on-a-roll combination of driver Simon Allard and trainer-owner Mark Akins got the victory in their third start after a claim of the gelded son of A Rocknroll Dance. Allard, fourth in the Philly driver standings, won five times on the card; three of them were for Akins, who now stands at number two in the conditioners ranks.
In one of the $11,000 divisions, the He’s Watching gelding Chucky Hanover joined the barn of the track’s leading trainer, Dean Eckley, then survived a brutal trip where he never saw the rail and won with courage in 1:51. George Napolitano Jr. kept the horse going for owner Ameer Najor. The other purse race for this purse for the claimers was captured by the American Ideal gelding Mindtrip, who overcame a 33-day layoff and a bias against closers to storm home from far back for a 1:51.3 success for driver Jack Pelling and trainer-owner Bruce Lauer.
Sunday’s 12:40 racing card will find a field with an average lifetime mark of 1:49.2 possibly threatening that number in a competitive $14,000 feature; there will also be a $2281.95 carryover into the first race Pick 4 wager. It is noted that post time for the next two Fridays at Philly, the 20th and 27th, will be at 6:30 p.m. Free Philly programs are or will be available at www.phha.org.
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