The Credit Winner gelding Bluffinner is currently in career best form after lowering his speed record to 1:53.2 while taking the $14,400 trotting feature at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon (May 6).
Shinkansen, just favoured over Bluffinner in the wagering, kept his rival outside past a :27.4 quarter, but once trainer-driver Trond Smedshammer and Bluffinner got to the lead, the rest were racing for second money. Middle fractions of :57 and 1:25 preceded the final clocking, with Bluffinner drawing clear up the backstretch and going on to his third straight win for Purple Haze Stables LLC.
There were also a pair of $13,000 fast-class trots for the older set. In the first, favourite Patriarch Hanover set the piece, but the Theo Josseln mare Eva Dairpet FR, driven by Dexter Dunn, ground him down late to win in 1:53.4. The lightly-raced seven-year-old now has two wins and two second-place finishes since crossing the Atlantic from Ireland for owner Alan Wallace and trainer Nancy Takter, and in those four starts she has won $15,900.
In the other co-feature, Jammin Jack closed just strongly enough to catch pacesetting favourite Jack Vernon in a lifetime best 1:54. Victor Kirby owns, trains and drives the successful Angus Hall gelding, who boosted his bankroll to $265,952.
A quartet of $12,600 contests for developing horses on both gaits top the Friday (May 7) card at Harrah’s Philadelphia. Program pages will be available at the PHHA website.
(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)