Team Cancelliere, owner John and trainer Tom, rolled out their big fast-class pacing guns for their 2025 debuts on Tuesday morning, April 29 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, and both were easy front-end winners.
The Somebeachsomewhere gelding Ruthless Hanover, still the fastest Standardbred ever over a five-eighth mile track by virtue of his 1:46.3 mile here in 2024, came out for his eight-year-old campaign impressively by putting down fractions of :29.3, :58.2 and 1:25.2 en route to a final clocking of 1:53.3 for driver George Napolitano Jr.
A race earlier, the Always B Miki gelding Maximus Miki, a 10-time winner while earning almost $275,000 last year, teamed with Napolitano for a :28.4, :58.4, 1:27.3, 1:55.3 mile in also winning by open lengths.
Among three-year-old pacers, the Sweet Lou colt Lousbodaciousboy, winner of half his two starts at two and returning with Lasix at three, was a length to the good of freshman multiple stakes-winner Royally Hot in 1:55 for driver Andrew McCarthy, trainer Linda Toscano and owner Conrad Zurich.
Breeders Crown finalist Makes Sense returned off a winning qualifier last week and succeeded again, the Papi Rob Hanover gelding coming home in :28.1 in a 1:55.1 mile for McCarthy, white-hot trainer Robert Cleary and the partnership of Let It Ride Stables, Celtic Racing, Odds On Racing and Carl Howard.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia; photo of Ruthless Hanover winning at Harrah's Philadelphia last year)