The betting public was all over JL Cruze in Thursday’s feature race at Harrah’s Philadelphia, and the Eric Ell trainee didn’t disappoint his backers.

John Campbell hustled JL Cruze to the lead from Post 6, and after parking past the quarter pole in :27.3 the gelding just kept on trucking. He led the group through middle splits of :57 and 1:25.2 before using a :27.3 kicker to win by 1-3/4 lengths over Escuela. Wind Of The North took home the show dough in the six-horse affair.

The five-year-old son of Crazed-Topcat Hall is owned by Wm K Wood, William Ditmar, Jr. and Stephen Iaquinta. The sub-1:50 performer is now 4-for-5 this season and 25-for-43 to date. The win pushed his lifetime earnings to $719,185.