The Liberty Bell Stakes series, designed to give talented Pennsylvania-sired horses a final seasonal chance at a nice payday, began on Thursday, Oct. 29 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. There were two events for two-year-old males, one on each gait.

The $87,606 Liberty Bell for pacers was won by the Captaintreacherous-Mcsauna colt The Tile Guy, who is now two-for-two since coming under the care of trainer Doug Dilloian Jr. after setting a 1:50.4 lifetime mark on Saturday. Driver Johnathan Ahle was three-wide past the eighth with his colt, ducked him in briefly before the :27.1 quarter, then had him moving to the lead well before a :56 half. The Tile Guy went his third panel in :27 to ward off outer challengers past a 1:23 three-quarters and through the turn, then had enough left to fend off the surging pocket-sitter Hungry Marco (Simon Allard) by a half-length. Crunchstyle (Troy Beyer) was third.

The winning colt is now three-for-nine with $88,631 in earnings for the ownership of Richard Hernandez and John Moderack. The Tile Guy paid $6.60 to win.

In the $63,380 companion Liberty Bell trot, the Greenshoe-Fashion Spooner colt Black Tesla tucked in fourth behind early splits of :28.4 and :58, then trotted his own third quarter in :27 to gain the lead past the three-quarters in 1:26. He went on to hold off pocket-sitting Hook N Reel (Tyler Buter), who had been briefly bothered when the pacesetter broke after being passed by the winner, by a length in 1:55.1. Green To Go (Jim Marohn Jr.) was third. Ridge Warren guided the winning Nicklas Andersen trainee to his third straight victory for owner Wayne Stoltzfus. Black Tesla is now four-for-seven and has earned $98,280. The win price was $5.60.

In the $22,535 Winners Over Handicap Trot, the six-year-old Resolve-Sensual Hall gelding Resolve To Win came into this Philly feature with five wins in his last seven starts – three victories at Plainridge and two at Pocono. Resolve To Win added a victory at a third “P” track to that tally in 1:52.2, equalling his lifetime mark for trainer Enrico Robinson and owner Pollack Racing LLC. The versatile Resolve To Win raced off the pace through :27, :55.4 and 1:23.3 fractions and was still 3-1/2 lengths off at the stretch call, but an irresistible stretch surge under the handling of Mark Herschberger got him to the wire three parts of a length ahead of the tough first-over Yall Keep Dreaming (Jonathan Ahle). Happy Jack B (Ake Svanstedt) finished third. Resolve To Win is now 38-for-113 lifetime with $755,910 in the bank. He returned $5.40 to win.

One aspect of the day’s training stats was Åke Svanstedt exactly matching the numbers he had put up at Pocono on Tuesday: three wins from the barn, with him driving two and the track’s leading driver guiding the other (Tyler Buter at Pocono and Tetrick here). On Thursday, Svanstedt's conditioning winners were Globalpac Hanover ($2.40), Captain Cooper ($4) and Eternal Light ($2.20), with Tetrick piloting the latter.

Scott Di Domenico had a conditioning double that has put the local trainers' race in a three-way deadlock: 42 wins each here for himself, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Eckley. Marc Mosher also had a training double.

Tim Tetrick won four races on the 14-race card and regained the seasonal dash-winning standings lead over Simon Allard as he attempts to win his sixth straight Philly title. The doubling drivers were Johnathan Ahle and Svanstedt. 

Friday’s card will begin at a special post time of 2 p.m., as the Breeders Cup championships will be raced this Friday and Saturday and will be available for simulcast viewing and wagering. On the track, there will be two $30,000 USD divisions of the Liberty Bell Stakes for three-year-old trotting males.

(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia; photo of Black Tesla in training)