Even though the calendar said Nov. 1, there were still a pair of 1:49.2 miles in two $41,667 divisions of the Liberty Bell Stakes for three-year-old colt pacers on Sunday afternoon over the Harrah’s Philadelphia five-eighths-mile oval.

The program got off to a quick start when the Stay Hungry-Sweet Lulu gelding Mardi Gras Man equalled his lifetime mark in the first Liberty Bell section. A winner of seven straight in the lower ranks this past summer but in-and-out in his last few races, Mardi Gras Man left no doubt as to his sharp form for trainer Stacy Chiodo and owner Timothy Tobias Stable of Belle Meade, New Jersey. Simon Allard kept the sophomore in third through early fractions of :26.3 and :55.1 then gave Mardi Gras Man the word and got a :26.1 third quarter response to clear to the lead before the 1:22 three-quarters, and the pair kept rolling in the :27.2 finishing stanza to win by 3-3/4 lengths over Good Friday (Corey Callahan). Southwind Spencer (Jack Pelling) was third.

The 1:49.2 win of the Always B Miki-Highlandbeachbelle gelding Highland B Best represented an outright lifetime best and his second straight victory. Troy Beyer got the three-year-old to sit in the two-hole, as even-money favourite Toast Of The Town (Jakc Pelling) produced fractions of :26.2, :54.3 and 1:22, then got Highland B Best in gear quickly to pace home in :27.1 and catch the pacesetter by a quarter-length for trainer Katie Beyer and owner Highland Thoroughbred Farm of Inglewood, Ont. Easy Breeze (George Napolitano Jr.) finished third after his first-over challenge.

Both Mardi Gras Man (6-5) and Highland B Best (8-5) were second choices in the wagering, as was the winner of the $22,222 fast-class Winners Over Pace, the Sweet Lou-Just Dance gelding Christopher Dance N (who was even shorter on the odds board at even money), as he stopped the timer in 1:50.2 to defeat Goliath Hanover (Jack Pelling), who had made a second-quarter brush to the top, by three-quarters of a length. Christopher Dance N, who got a two-hole trip, paced home in :53.4 with a :26.3 finale for driver Mark Herschberger, trainer Enrico Robinson and owner Pollack Racing of Venetia, Pennsylvania.

George Napolitano Jr. topped the drivers list with three victories; sitting in the winning sulky seat twice were amateur driver Cote Keim (who also trained his pair), Mark Herschberger (both for trainer Enrico Robinson), Johnathan Ahle and Simon Allard. Allard’s two-bagger again put him in the lead of the currently see-sawing battle with Tim Tetrick at the top of the local seasonal drivers list, 118-117, while Scott Di Domenico’s 43rd winner at the meet gave him the outright lead, with Joe Bongiorno and Dean Eckley a single triumph behind.

Racing resumes at the riverside oval on Thursday at 12:25 p.m., with two-year-old fillies in Liberty Bell stakes action: one $45,600 USD division for the trotters and two $34,500 USD cuts for the pacers. 

(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)