The front end continued to be the place to be at Harrah’s Philadelphia in the third week of the racing season, as the Elegant Man gelding Fearless Man used speedy tactics to capture the $18,000 featured trot on Thursday (April 11) in 1:53.3.

The young meet’s leading driver, George Napolitano Jr., allowed longshot Tough Mac streak to the early lead, but then brushed to the top after a lightning :26.2 opening split.

Fearless Man, a winner of $684,304, just kept gobbling up the racetrack through middle fractions of :55.1 and 1:23.2 as the favoured Fraser Ridge made steady – but not enough – forward grinding progress.

Fraser Ridge continued to gain through the lane, but Fearless Man had just built up too big an advantage. The final margin was one and three-quarter lengths for trainer Andrew Harris and the ownership of Rick Zeron Stables, Noblock Racing Stable, and Cool Cat Racing Inc.

The National Basketball Association playoffs will get underway this Saturday, and a five-time participant in the NBA postseason, Sam Bowie, owns the winner of Philly’s Thursday $14,500 co-feature, Seven Iron, who equalled his mark of 1:54.2 (the horse’s name is not as much a mixed sports metaphor as you may think – the famous Masters golf tournament is also this weekend). The victorious son of Cantab Hall, a Chris Lakata trainee who now has a bankroll of $241,170, earned his victory ‘the hard way.’ He was forced to race first-over on the speed-favouring oval, but driver Yannick Gingras had plenty of horse late to finish two and three-quarter lengths clear of favoured Presidente Zette.

(With files from PHHA / Harrah’s Philadelphia)