Bills Man joined the illustrious company of Chapter Seven and Father Patrick by tying their track record time for four-year-old trotting horses, 1:52.1, in winning the $17,000 feature on Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

A record was in the works from the eighth pole when EI EI O refused to let Arch Credit go by for the lead, forcing the latter to tuck before the :26.1 quarter. EI EI O went on to a :54.3 half, then was pressured by first-over Top Flight Angel to the 1:23.3 three-quarters, with Bills Man in pluperfect position second-over.

Top Flight Angel wrested the lead by the top of the stretch, but Corey Callahan then asked the son of Credit Winner to trot on and he did so with power, equaling the track record as well as the season’s record for the division shared by Marion Marauder and Fraser Ridge. Trainer John Butenschoen saw Bills Man raise his earnings over the $570,000 plateau for owners Crawford Farms Racing, M&L of Delaware LLC, and VIP Internet Stable LLC.

John Butenschoen and Bills Man

Skates N Plates, a career winner of $437,944, extended his recent regaining of form to three straight victories in taking the $14,500 top trot for the older set. George Napolitano Jr. gunned the son of Revenue S away from the outside post eight and didn’t have much trouble from there, stopping the timer in 1:54.4 while two lengths clear for trainer Andrew Harris and owner Robert Key.

Freshman trotting colts made their pari-mutuel debut at Philly in 2018, with the Explosive Matter – Up Front Annika colt Ginger Tree Skyr trotting away in the stretch to a 4-1/4 length victory in 1:58.4. The winner came his own back half in :57.4 for driver David Miller, trainer Steven Cook, and the ownership of Ginger Tree Ventures LLC and Don Marean.

(PHHA / Harrah’s Philadelphia)