Higher And Higher established a new life mark of 1:50.3 in winning the $24,000 Open Handicap Pace for fillies and mares Wednesday night at Pocono Downs

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With Jim Morrill Jr. in the sulky, Higher And Higher held off Omen Hanover (Matt Kakaley) in a furious stretch drive coming down the lane with the winner getting to the wire by a nose. Third in the race some four lengths back was Shanghai Lil (David Miller).

Shanghai Lil took the eight-horse field of gals to the opening quarter in :26.4 with Omen Hanover sitting second.

Shortly thereafter, it was Makerbark (Roger Hammer) the new leader at the half with the timer at :56 seconds before Omen Hanover came first over followed by Higher And Higher.

The three-quarters went in 1:23.1 with Omen Hanover leading the way with Higher And Higher drawing near. Down the stretch, the two horses raced as a team and neither would give in before the winner poked a nose in front at the wire.

Paul Reid trains Higher And Higher, now two-for-two on the year with both wins coming at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The three-year-old daughter of Western Terror won half of her 10 freshman starts including eliminations for the Shes A Great Lady, Three Diamonds and Breeders Crown to earn $402,497.

The victory was one of seven on the card for Morrill Jr.

(With files from Pocono Downs)