Its Saturday Night won on Sunday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, capturing the $19,014 featured pace for developing horses with ease in 1:51.1, just a tick over his mark, which he took in a Simpson Stakes at the end of October.
Bradley Chisholm left with the Always B Miki gelding, trained by Nifty Norman for Dune Road Stables, and when pole-sitter Lou Vuitton blasted away, Chisholm was content to sit second with the favourite behind fractions of :26.4, :55.3 and 1:23.3, awaiting the right moment to start his horse up. Its Saturday Night, who also won the Hempt Consolation II at Pocono Downs in August, vacated the two-hole late on the far turn and easily took command in the stretch, leaving the pacesetter 3-1/2 lengths behind at the wire.
Tony Morgan hasn’t won 17,772 races, second in North American history, without also possessing some sense of just how much horse he has in front of him, and his judgment was rewarded in the $16,901 co-featured pace when the Huntsville gelding Build The Wall won in 1:53. Morgan was content to sit third behind a moderate pace of :27.4, :56.4 and 1:25, and still wasn’t tight on the leaders approaching the eighth pole. But soon afterwards, he asked the question of his three-year-old and got the expected answer, as Build The Wall turned in a powerful last eighth to comfortably for trainer Maria Reid and owners Fusco Strong and Peter Fusco Racing. Build The Wall, the crowd’s choice, was unraced at two but is now seven-for-11 in 2024.
Seven horsemen posted two wins on the card: drivers Bradley Chisholm, Neil Glasser (in American Harness Drivers Club amateur races), Tyler Miller, George Napolitano Jr., and Tim Tetrick; and trainers Dean Eckley, the meet leader, and George Lange. Tetrick maintains a five-win lead over Napolitano atop the standings as the days left in 2024 dwindle down.
Glasser swept the $10,563 pacing divisions of the American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) with Boiler Maker in 1:55.1 and Urban Renewal in 1:54.4 while Anthony Verruso won the lone trotting race for the amateur club members with Big Nudge in 1:57.3.
The American Harness Drivers Club (AHDC) presented another donation to charity this season – this time to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital – following the club’s races.
AHDC President Anthony Verruso led the cheque presentation of a $2,000 USD donation in the winner’s circle following the win by Neil Glasser driving Boiler Maker. Harrah’s Philadelphia’s assistant race secretary Jennifer McGlinchey joined the presentation alongside Glasser and George Lange, trainer of winning horse Boiler Maker.
“We always want to help those who need it most,” Anthony Verruso said. “I can’t think of a better organization than St. Jude’s and the work that they do. We happily support them and any other communities we can. The racing is fun, but giving back is fun, too.”
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on researching, treating and curing childhood cancers and other life-threatening diseases. The charity is one of many supported by the AHDC along with organizations like Ronald McDonald House and the American Cancer Society as well as equine-related charities such as the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society, the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization and others focused on retraining and rehousing Standardbreds.
Harrah’s Philadelphia will be racing this coming week on Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. The track will then be dark for live racing on U.S. Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday, with the trotters and pacers back in action on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 12:40 p.m.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah’s Philadelphia & AHDC)