No horse won in both the first and second preliminary leg of the pacing series for $10,000 USD-valued horses at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but in Friday’s third and last prelim, three horses added a second series win to their resumes and established themselves as big contenders for the $12,500 USD series championship on Sunday, Nov. 30.

The fastest winner in Friday’s five $11,268 races was Stretch The Line, who moved over to the Kevin Reynolds Jr. barn after a claim and parlayed a pocket trip into a 1:51.1 victory, coming his last quarter in :27.2 for driver Ridge Warren. The other horses with two series wins are Real Lucky N, making it two straight and five in his last seven as he moved to the Bob Belcher barn and won in 1:52.1 for driver George Napolitano Jr., and Just Bet It All, switching into the barn of Jamie Vance after a claim and then winning in 1:53.1 with Corey Callahan driving.

Also notching a series win on Friday were Your Brother, driven by Tim Tetrick, in 1:53.2 in his series debut for trainer Herbert Lux III, and Squadron Seelster, driven by Jack Pelling to a 1:53.3 win for conditioner Bruce Lauer. Surprisingly, with the big money coming up (there will also be as many $10,000 USD consolations as fill), there was only one horse claimed all day, and he did not win.

Both winners of the features for distaff pacers were driven by Simon Allard, who had four visits to Victory Lane on the 14-race Friday card and has guided 23 winners already in the month in November. In a $16,901 contest for developing horses, Neils Diamond had her many backers singing "Sweet Caroline" as the sophomore daughter of In The Arsenal-Symphony In Motion took her third win in her last four outings, defeating Swift Sarabi by three parts of a length in 1:53.1 for trainer Jeffrey Smith and the partnership of Joseph Jannuzzelli and Steven and Joseph Williams.

In a $15,493 fast-class pace, Allard sat in with the longest shot on the board, the Betterthancheddar-Evangelin Seelster mare Cheesey Lady, then found a seam on the far turn and charged home to catch Spicy Story by three-quarters of a length while equalling her lifetime mark of 1:52.3. Adrian Wisher trains and owns the winner, who paid $40.60 for a win deuce.

Harrah’s Philly will have live racing on Sunday at 12:40 p.m., with a rare Sunday trotting feature, a $16,000 USD fast-class contest. Philly will then be dark on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday, and will reopen on Sunday, Nov. 30 (draw Tuesday), with the big races in the claiming series set to go on that day. 

(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)