Sire Captain Corey and trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt combined to win the two $75,953 divisions of the fourth and final preliminary leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes (PASS) for freshman male trotters on Sunday, Aug. 23 at Harrah's Philadelphia.

The faster clocking of the two sections was the 1:55 effort by Jimdougie Armitage ($2.40), a $1,041,667 yearling who recorded a second straight PASS prelim win. From seven-eighths of this mile, things went as they appeared they would on paper, with Dream Shaq (Mattias Melander), who won his first two PASS legs, taking the lead after a :28 quarter and going to the half in :57.1. Jimdougie Armitage started an uncovered move midway down the backstretch with the two leaders battling at the 1:24.4 three-quarters. Red Andray (Mike Wilder) was staying semi-connected in third, and the rest of the field seemed closer to the Philly airport than the front of the pack.

The first-over horse looked ready to take the measure of the pacesetter, whom he beat last week, but the two hooked up in a fierce battle in midstretch with Red Andray gaining ground and two from the far end of the field similarly narrowing rapidly. The last quarter went in :30.1, with Jimdougie Armitage living up to his pedigree and purchase price with a tough victory. He defeated Dream Shaq by three-quarters of a length, with Red Andray only a neck off place and five horses in all within three lengths at the finish.

Jimdougie Armitage is owned by S R F Stable, Knutsson Trotting Inc., Brochart Stable Inc., and Svanstedt & Midnight Sun. The colt out of Quick Bet is two-for-four lifetime. Svanstedt now has 15 days to get the colt (who had heretofore failed to beat :29.1 home only over a sloppy oval) set before his $300,000 USD PASS Championship, to be held Labor Day Monday at Pocono Downs.

Things weren’t quite as dramatic in the other PASS cut, as Big Time Trot S ($4.60) sat second behind Svanstedt stablemate Red Storm Hanover (Tyler Buter) through fractions of :28.1, :57.2, and 1:26. Big Time Trot S was set down by Svanstedt and went by to be 1-1/2 lengths to the good on the money while taking a maiden mark of 1:55.1. Sas Tiki Bar (Shawn Johnston) was third. Fourth, third, and second in his prior PASS prelims, Big Time Trot S looks to be trending well for most of the same connections as his stablemate: Knutsson Trotting Inc., Double S Stables LLC, S R F Stable, and Svanstedt & Midnight Sun. The win put the colt at one-for-four lifetime.

Pocono leading driver Tyler Buter won all three of the Stallion Series (StS) legs, a boost for those horses eyeing their $40,000 USD series championship at The Meadows on Sept. 5. Buter had one Captain Corey winner – the gelding Strapped ($2.60), who has two straight StS victories after tallying in 1:56.2. Nick Devita trains the gelding out of Borrow And Spend for owners David Hamm and Glenn Phillips.

The other Stallion Series success stories were Friday Night Fats ($5.20), a Cantab Hall-Lovely Liv colt who won his third straight StS race while equalling his mark of 1:57 for trainer Matthew Burkholder and Dark Horse Farm LLC, and the Greenshoe–Tuscany colt Scarpa ($3.20), undefeated in two straight Stallion Series races after posting the quickest time of the today in this division, 1:56 (a new mark), for trainer Nifty Norman, whose Enzed Racing Stable Inc. shares ownership with Melvin Hartman.

Buter won for three different trainers on the 15-race card, but other doublers had a trainer-driver connection: Svanstedt as trainer/driver, driver Jim Marohn Jr. and trainer Scott Di Domenico, and driver Trae Porter and trainer Howard Birney.

Next week, Harrah’s Philly will be racing on its usual weekly schedule of Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. The top attraction of the period will be the final Pennsylvania Sire Stakes/Stallion Series preliminary of the season during the Sunday, Aug. 30 card, when three-year-old trotting males will be looking to finalize spots in their Sire Stakes Championship (Sunday, Sept. 6) at Philly, or the Stallion Series Championship (at The Meadows the day before).

(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia; photo of Jimdougie Armitage winning on Aug. 10)