Thursday afternoon racing returned to the basic fall schedule at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with the Oct. 24 feature races being a trio of $16,667 contests for horses looking to step up the class ladder.
In the sole division devoted to pacers, Atoughnuttocrack was allowed to get away at 9-1 despite winning his last start in this class, and the Nutcracker Sweet gelding again posed for the photographer a second straight start after lowering his mark to 1:52.3. Corey Callahan got the sophomore to the lead early, then yielded to favourite American Warrior; he could then rally up the inside in the lane to catch the chalk by a half-length for the Cancelliere brothers – trainer Tom and owner/breeder John.
The faster of the two headliners devoted to trotters was the 1:56 mile turned in by the Bar Hopping sophomore trotting filly I See A Star. Ridge Warren moved the consistent miss to the top passing the stands for the first time and the pair was in charge from there, finishing 3-3/4 lengths clear. The winner, with a record of 3-3-3 in her last nine starts, is trained by Kerry Welty for owner Brian Emerson.
In the other section, the Chapter Seven three-year-old colt Thinker Monkey recorded his second straight victory, taking 1:56.2 to cover the mile. Simon Allard had the winner moving well down the backstretch and went right on to the lead nearing the three-quarters, then withstood a resurgent Jesmach On Target by three parts of a length. Marcus Melander conditions the sophomore for Order By Stable AB and Daniel Plouffe.
Tim Tetrick won four races on Thursday. Unusually, the remaining 10 races were won by five drivers taking a pair of victories each: Simon Allard, Troy Beyer, Corey Callahan, George Napolitano Jr., and Ridge Warren. Eddie Sager had a training double.
Friday’s 12:25 p.m. card is topped by action for fast-class veterans of the top levels. A week from Friday, Harrah’s Philadelphia's first post will be at 2:30 p.m. on the first of the two days of the runners’ Breeder's Cup championships.
(PHHA / Harrah’s Philadelphia)