A trio of $11,200 contests for developing horses opened a five-day racing week at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday (April 28).
In the first of the contests for pacing males, the gelded son of Mr Wiggles Nextmovebestmove remained undefeated in four starts, chopping down the well-regarded leader Rockin Rocko while lowering his lifetime best to 1:51.2. Montrell Teague drove the Clyde Francis trainee, improving by the race, for George Teague Jr. Inc. and David Collins.
In the other headliner section for sidewheelers, most bettors thought one of the McCarthy brothers would win–but they thought it would be Todd McCarthy behind 1-10 shot Shakespeare. However, it proved to be brother Andrew getting the victory with the Sweet Lou three-year-old colt Tapped Teen in a career best of 1:52.3, coming out of the pocket to wear down the big chalk for owner-trainer Aaron Lambert.
In the feature cut for trotters, the Googoo Gaagaa sophomore filly Goo Doo Doll made her 2021 debut a winning one, reducing her mark to 1:57. David Miller had to send the filly on the difficult “tuck-then-grind” mission, but the stakes-placed filly here last year was impressively up to the challenge for trainer Ed Gannon Jr. and owner Frank Canzone.
On Thursday (April 29), a $12,800 trot for developing horses heads the lineup, with Shikansen coming off a 1:54.2 win at The Meadowlands for Kelvin “Red” Harrison, tied at the top of the Philly trainer standings. He’ll take on Ginger Tree Knox, stepping up off two straight victories for the hot Team Cook/Beegle. First-race post will be at 12:30 p.m. (EDT). Program pages for the card will be available at the PHHA website.
FINISHING LINES – At the PHHA’s sister track, The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, on Wednesday morning, Bronx Seelster, a son of Big Jim who was the Battle Of Waterloo winner at two, had a sharp 1:52 qualifier for the Down Under team of trainer Shane Tritton and driver Lauren Tritton, who won over 900 races in her sulky time back home.
(PHHA / Pocono)