At 10:25 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, Harrah’s Philadelphia unofficially opened its “summer season” with the first qualifying race for two-year-olds, with four Brett Pelling trainees comprising the entire field.
The winner was Lous Lucky Star (Sweet Lou-So Irresistible), who went wire-to-wire in 1:59.3, with a smart last quarter of :28.1.
Andrew McCarthy had Lous Lucky Star away quickly from the outside post and had grabbed the racetrack before the first turn, followed by JK Alwaysbpositive (Papi Rob Hanover-JK Alwaysbealady), Bluebird Beach (Pebble Beach-Bunny Hop Hanover) and Sangiovese Hanover (Captaintreacherous-Sonoma Valley) in that order. Through fractions of :29.4, 1:01.2 and 1:31.2, the four raced along one behind the other, nobody leaving a gap the last half, and coming home, despite going at the :28.1 clip in the last split, it looked like the field was going under the wire the first time instead of the second time in the educational mile.
All Star Racing Inc. of Towaco, New Jersey owns Lous Lucky Star, a $138,889 yearling as the first foal of her dam, who is a half sister to the $640,000+ winner Asweetbeachhere, the latter female also by Sweet Lou.
(PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)