Harrah’s Philadelphia will present its annual marquee “Super Sunday” program this weekend on the afternoon of May 24, with $611,815 USD in purses up for grabs. The action begins at 12:40 p.m., with 15 races that will include two defending champions from the $100,000 USD Invitationals of 2025.
The following is an overview of the three centerpiece $100,000 USD Invitational races with some of the most talented established performers currently in the sport, along with third preliminary round action of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series racing for the “glamour boy division,” the three-year-old pacing males. A Sire Stakes division in race 10 will start off a Pick 4 wager that is guaranteed to have a $10,000 USD pool, with the three Invites the last three legs of the bet.
$100,000 USD Joseph Auger Memorial Pace (Race 13)
The defending Joseph Auger champion is Bythemissal, who has the greatest lifetime earnings of any entrant on the Super Sunday card, $2,791,752, and who has a lifetime record of 1:46.4, taken at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Bythemissal has had two starts this year, missing by just a nose in the top class at The Meadows in his return and then having to race from an impossible spot in the Pacey Mindlin Invitational at Miami Valley Raceway. He’s likely to get a better trip in the Joseph Auger as he will start from post three for driver Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke.
Millionaire pacer Ken Hanover certainly turned some heads in his 2026 bow at Pocono Downs, coming from sixth at headstretch and passing a good field like it was attached to the track. The frequent winner, however, is stuck behind the eight-ball, the outside starting spot, in this elite field and has his work cut out for him for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Polie Mallar.
There is also the $50,000 USD #Senditin Invitational Pace in race five featuring the world’s fastest horse on a five-eighths-mile track, the Tom Cancelliere-trained millionaire Ruthless Hanover, with that 1:46.3 coming at Philly in the 2023 Auger. Toss in a $25,000 USD Open Pace to start the card.
$100,000 USD Betsy Ross Mares Pace (Race 12)
Double defending Betsy Ross champion and 2024 U.S. Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh has not quite returned to her top form yet, but the Chris Ryder barn will send a pretty good “replacement” in double millionaire Miki And Minnie, who will start from post six. Miki And Minnie was the U.S. divisional champion at two and three, and she has qualified well for this, her first seasonal start. Trainer Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn could make it three Ross Paces in a row, as Dunn has the perch behind Miki And Minnie on Sunday.
A very dangerous foe from the rail will be the Kiwi import Louies Girl N for driver Jason Bartlett and trainer Per Engblom. Louies Girl N has won five of seven starts so far in 2026 and she has the kind of tactical speed that could set up a good journey for her if things get overheated on the front end. Miki And Minnie’s big rival over the last two years, Rodeo Drive Deo, will start from post seven for Team Burke/Gingras after impressing in her comeback mile at Pocono with a 1:49.4 final clocking.
$100,000 USD Maxie Lee Memorial Trot (Race 11)
If you’ve seen a lot of Yannick Gingras and Ron Burke in this story, here they are again, as the connections behind Antognoni S, who will start from post four in the Maxie Lee. Antognoni S has won both of his seasonal starts, downing defending U.S. Trotter of the Year Lexus Kody last time, and is on a five-race winning streak, obviously starting last year when he posted 16 victories. This horse has good speed, but he has been irresistible just grinding up into contention until overpowering the opposition.
Aetos Kronos S, winner of the 2025 Maxie Lee, could earn trainer Marcus Melander his third straight win in this race and Dexter Dunn his second, as they combined behind the horse for last year’s victory. However, the fates of the post positional draw were not with him here, as he will be forced to contend with the very difficult number eight outermost post. Aetos Kronos S had a useful race in finishing second in the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands last week in his first race of 2026.
Pennsylvania Sire Stakes & Stallion Series (Sire Stakes Races 7, 10 & 14; Stallion Series Races 3, 4, 6, 8 & 9)
Both groupings of the “glamour division” sophomores have two horses who have won both of their preliminary races to date. On the Sire Stakes side, the resemblance beyond the two doublers, Another C Note and Sneaky Squeaky, goes even further – both horses, relatively unheralded at the year’s beginning, are six-for-six in 2026 competition. Another C Note will be in the 10th race, the event kicking off the $10 guaranteed Pick 4 wager, while Sneaky Squeaky will race just after the big Invites in race 14.
A fate that has befallen quite a few of the highly-regarded horses on this card also caught up with Really Bright – if he is to win his third straight Stallion Series prelim in race three, he’ll have to surmount the outside post. Ballroom Affair, on the other hand, will be starting from post two and he looks for another Stallion Series conquest and to keep his 2026 scorecard unblemished after four starts.
Any scratches or late driver changes would be available after noon on Thursday. The free Philly program pages for the Super Sunday card should also be available on Thursday afternoon at phha.org.
To view Sunday's complete harness racing entries, click here.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia; photo of 2025 Joseph Auger Memorial champion Bythemissal)