Dispatched as the longest shot on the board, Celebrity Playboy ($77.20) showed a late turn of foot to take the $32,000 Open Trot on Friday afternoon at Harrah's Chester
.
The six-year-old gelded son of Yankee Glide showed breaks after the start in recent efforts, so driver Corey Callahan was determined to keep him on gait early, even if it meant sacrificing early position.
Callahan explained: “Scoring down, he was really hot. He had made a break his last start, and it was because he was trying to leave too hard. My main objective was to keep him off the qualifying list, so I was just going to try to take him back. From the get-go, I was trying to keep him calm."
Well off Photo Maxx (Daniel Dube) through a pressured :27.2 first quarter, Celebrity Playboy was at liberty to save ground the whole way with no fear of being locked in past a :56.2 half-mile split.
“I got away sixth, and the horses behind me didn’t have much trot," continued Callahan. "I thought at that point that if I could keep him going, I could be fifth."
With Likeabatoutahell (Yannick Gingras) pushing Photo Maxx to three-quarters in 1:24.1, and John Wagner moving 8-5 favourite Lolique three-wide off the battle, Callahan made the most of the opportunity before him.
"Halfway up the backstretch, I saw that Danny [Dube, with Photo Maxx] was all done, and when [John] Wagner tipped three-wide [with Lolique], I followed him, and at the top of the stretch, he went right by. I was surprised [Celebrity Playboy] paid as much as he did; he showed some good lines at the Meadowlands, and I don’t think it was as much a
surprise that he won," concluded Callahan.
Celebrity Playboy prevailed by a half-length in 1:54 over Lolique, with Lets Get Serious N (David Miller) a hard-closing third from the rear of the field.
Peter Kleinhans owns and trains Celebrity Playboy, who recorded his 13th career victory.
(Harrah's Chester)