Asteroid touched down at Harrah's Philadelphia for the first time this season as the track hosted its "Trottin' Thursday" card on May 28, and the gelding used a strong front-end effort to win the $22,222 Winners Over Handicap Trot.
The favoured Creatine-Ultimate Cameron gelding did not have it easy in the 1:53.2 victory, as he was out in three-wide space much of a :27.4 first quarter before making the top for driver Tim Tetrick. He posted a pair of moderate :28.2 fractions in the middle half (:56.1 and 1:24.3), with second choice Ultion Face S (Mark Herschberger) batlling the leader first-over from mid-backstretch until backing down in the stretch.
Asteroid then had to brace for a late bid from Dribbling Bi (Jonathan Ahle), the horse who had been just inside him during the early three-way tussle, but that one’s late charge fell three-quarters of a length short. Ultion Face S finished third.
Enrico Robinson trains the winning eight-year-old, now three-for-10 this year, for Pollack Racing LLC. Asteroid has now won 24 times in 75 career starts and earned $669,214. He paid $3.40 to win.
A race earlier, the oft-winning Shoresy ($4.60) came south on the Pennsylvania Turnpike from Pocono to Philly and promptly captured the $18,056 sub-featured conditioned event in a new mark of 1:53. The victorious son of Cantab Hall-Hs Carry On, now a winner's-circle visitor eight times this year from 14 starts, was on the move off the first turn, gained command, and then held it to the wire while not threatened in a 2-1/2-length win. Andrew McCarthy drove the four-year-old stallion for trainer Per Engblom and the partnership of Timothy Betts and Shanamphilankilou Inc.
Trainer Scott Di Domenico sent out both winners in the top trots for the developing set. First up, in the $19,444 event for this classification, was the five-year-old Trixton-B Flomo gelding B Mo ($13.20). He sat a pocket trip behind favoured R Lady W (Mark Herschberger) and then found a little more late to author a 1:54.3 triumph, a half-length to the good over the chalk for driver Johnathan Ahle and owner Ben Robards.
In the very next race, an $18,750 contest, the Captain Corey-Melania sophomore gelding Jim Beam ($2.20) had to travel the first-over route but still posted back-half splits of :56.2 and :27.3 to win by two lengths in 1:56.1. Tim Tetrick drove for owner Allen Wenc.
Meet leader Tetrick guided three winners on the 14-race card to add to his margin at the top of the sulky column. Johnathan Ahle and Anibal Borjas drove two winners each. Di Domenico had the only training two-bagger.
In Friday’s Philly action, spotlight will be given over to the distaff pacing set, with a $14,000 USD contest for up-and-coming performers the feature attraction.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia; photo of Asteroid winning on May 10, 2025)