In his second start for trainer Juan Cano, Bettor Not Talk spoke volumes with an authoritative 1:51.2 front-end score at a chilly Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday (Nov. 18).
David Miller was away third with the Betting Line gelding, then got his charge in gear mid-first turn and got him around early leader Code Cracker through the :28.1 first quarter. The favourite never looked back from there, stringing his opponents out with middle fractions of :56.3 and 1:24.1, finishing his mile in :27.1 to be 2-3/4 lengths to the good of Code Cracker at the finish. Allen Wenc saw his pacer push his earnings to $106,919 while taking his tenth lifetime victory.
Flip The Script was hustled away by driver Simon Allard to sit in the pocket behind favoured Waitforever N in the $14,400 co-featured pace for distaffs, then rallied inside the chalk to take a 1:55 decision. The margin of victory was a neck for the three-year-old daughter of American Ideal, who is trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Joseph DiScala Jr., and Beasty LLC.
There were a pair of $13,000 paces for the fast-class older horses. In the division for males, Vettel N won his second straight, covering the mile in 1:51.4 while defeating Southwind Sandor by two lengths for driver Corey Callahan, trainer Jennifer Bongiorno, and owners JB Racing and Robert Devine. The altered American Ideal import now has a career bankroll of $425,228.
When the mares gathered, Annabelle Hanover sat in the two-hole behind favoured Dresden, then rallied to defeat that one by a neck in 1:53.3, also taking her second straight. A daughter of Somebeachsomewhere who is trained by Jeff Cullipher, co-owner with Pollack Racing LLC, Annabelle Hanover was driven by Simon Allard as her earnings took a jump to $435,627.
Driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Jeff Cullipher connected in Friday’s last with Huntanover, completing a big day for both horsemen: Tetrick wound up with five victories on the card, while Cullipher-conditioned horses clicked four times.
Sunday’s 12:40 card will be highlighted by the range of claiming pacers, including a $13,000 event for horses valued between $25,000 and $30,000, and the return of the two-year-old trotting filly Another Like Me, a daughter of Muscle Hill – Stubborn Belle who missed the divisional track mark of 1:54 by a tick in her career debut on November 3. Harrah’s Philly will be dark on Thanksgiving Day, then back in action on Friday at 12:25. Program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA / Harrah's Philadelphia)