On Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 16), Harrah’s Philadelphia opened Liberty Bell stakes action, with $180,800 on the line for two-year-old colts and geldings. Four of the six winners took lifetime marks.
Form held up in the first two of the trotting contests. The Father Patrick-Muscle Amour gelding Saxon rallied out of the pocket to catch pacesetting DDs Redemption by a half length, stopping the timer in 1:56.3. A double winner in Pennsylvania Stallion Series action, Saxon was handled by David Miller for trainer Jim Campbell for the Runthetable Stables.
Loyal Fox Hanover looked like he might be facing difficulty after Pennsylvania Fair Final winner Stickler Hanover got to the half in 1:00 in their section, but the altered son of Andover Hall and Lady Luck Hanover ground into a :28.1 last quarter to get by the stubborn pacesetter by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:57.1. Loyal Fox Hanover was driven by Dexter Dunn for trainer Chuck Sylvester, who shares ownership with Steve Jones, Mary Kinsey Arnold and Paul Bordogna.
The one trotting cut that saw the chalk defeated was also the fastest division on that gait, and it was won by the Muscle Massive-My Winning Way K colt Moveoutofmyway K in 1:56. Yannick Gingras tipped his colt out of the pocket on the backstretch and immediately got the lead as the pacesetter broke, and then the pair were able to ward off the late burst of favoured Patriarch Hanover by a half length. Norm Parker conditions the first-time stakes winner for owner Robert Key.
Contrasting with the trotting events, the contests for baby pacers saw no favourite emerge victorious. The fastest winner was the Well Said-Bodacious Hanover colt Lake Charles, who was sent to the top by Tim Tetrick, then came home in :27.2 for a 1:51.4 victory. Tell Them Lou was three-quarters of a length back in second, and favoured Manticore third behind the Pennsylvania Stallion Series champion, who is trained by Ray Schnittker and is co-owned by him with Dr. John Egloff, Max Hempt and Steven Arnold.
Brian Sears sent Father Nuno, the Somebeachsomewhere-Worldly Treasure colt who is a full brother to Captaintreacherous, to the top in his division, and like Lake Charles, Father Nuno posted back splits of :55.1 and 27.2 to complete the mile in 1:53.1, 2-1/4 lengths ahead of favoured Macs Big Boy for the brother team of trainer Tom and owner John Cancelliere.
The one pacing winner who did post a new mark was also the longest shot of the six stakes winners at $30.60: the Sweet Lou-Keystone Dawn colt Keystone Dash, who rallied from the pocket for driver Andrew McCarthy to overhaul pacesetting favourite Starship by a nose in 1:53.1. The youngster, a Pennsylvania Stallion Series winner who is owned by Åke Svanstedt Inc., had not raced in 33 days, but despite any layoff Svanstedt horses usually come out ready for a big mile, as did Keystone Dash today.
(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)