Andy McCarthy and Kelvin Harrison were the top newsmakers at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday afternoon (April 9), with McCarthy driving five straight winners on the card and Harrison training four of them.
Three of the four Harrison trainees that McCarthy guided to victory – Bigonpersonality N, Persimmon A and Claytons Bettor N – were favoured, and their fourth combination, Bettor Trix N, was a second choice. McCarthy’s fifth winner, Eddard Hanover, was also a second choice for trainer Jeff Cullipher.
McCarthy's five wins put him in a tie with Marcus Miller at the top win spot in the driving standings with seven; Harrison's five wins at the meet lead all trainers.
A pair of $11,200 paces for younger horses were the top purse events of the day. In the section for distaffers, the Western Ideal mare Avaya Hanover rallied from the two-hole for driver Marcus Miller to overhaul favourite Break The Deal in 1:53.4 for trainer-owner Cote Keim. The male group was fronted from the quarter by the American Ideal gelding Manaccount, who took a new mark of 1:51.3 for driver Anthony Napolitano and owner-trainer Trevor Stafford.
The 12-year-old McArdle stallion McErlean became harness racing’s newest millionaire. McErlean, whom Todd McCarthy drove for trainer Darran Cassar and the Muscara Racing Trust, moved his lifetime tally to $1,004,130 with his 47th career victory.
Racing returns to Harrah's Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon (April 11). First post will be at 12:40 p.m.; program pages will be available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)