The draw is complete for the first harness racing card of 2025 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, which will take place on Friday, April 11 with a special evening post time of 6:30 p.m.
The feature is the 12th race, a $13,500 conditioned trot. Furst Igor S, from the barn of hot trainer Per Engblom, has recently won at this “non-winners of five races” level at Yonkers Raceway, but he also has been having recent problems with holding stride. Three of his opponents show wins in the adjacent “non-winners of four races” class at Pocono Downs among their lines.
The fast-class trotting feature, racing for $11,000 USD and slotted as race eight, has such strong Philly veterans as Mississippi Storm and Eurobond among the entries.
There will be another draw on Wednesday, April 9 for the racing on Sunday, April 13.
Four-time Philly defending driving champion Tim Tetrick is scheduled for opening night action, as is his perennial nemesis George Napolitano Jr., second in the standings at both Pocono and Philly last year and fighting for the top spot at the 2005 meet at Pocono already.
After opening night, Harrah’s Philadelphia will go with a schedule through June of Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m., with two exceptions: Easter Sunday, April 20, which will be a dark day, and Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 3, when a special noon card of live racing has been added to the schedule.
Another set of qualifiers was held at Philly on a chilly Tuesday morning, April 8. The Muscle Hill sophomore trotting gelding My Degenerate crossed the wire in 1:54 last week but made a break in the race; he was then put right back in on Tuesday and stayed errorless in 1:54.2. He was one of three winners for trainer Julie Miller and her husband, driver Andy Miller.
The 1-2 finishers in last season’s Stallion Series Championship for freshman pacing colts, held at Philly, won separate qualifiers for father-son, trainer-driver connections: victorious Bettors Wish colt Twisted Destiny, who won on Tuesday in 1:55.1 for Chris and Patrick Ryder, and second-place Im The One, victorious here in 1:57 for trainer Brett and Jack Pelling.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah’s Philadelphia)