George Napolitano Jr. drove the 13,000th winner of his career on Friday, July 10 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, rallying La Miki N into a :53.4 final half to give the Always B Miki mare a lifetime mark of 1:51 while recording his milestone triumph in the 10th race between Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action.
Napolitano and La Miki N made the lead just past the midpoint of the first turn, but Wise Professor (Simon Allard) was out and brushing for the lead past the :27.4 quarter, getting a breather to a :57.1 half. There was no third quarter breather as Wise Professor blazed down the back in :26.1 for a 1:23.2 three-quarter split, with La Miki N and Napolitano doing their best to stay within shouting difference. Wise Professor carried the lead well into the stretch but began to tire a bit, and Napolitano kept La Miki N up on the bit and the Kiwi import rallied to win by a neck. Favoured Please Be You (Tim Tetrick) was a non-factor in third.
Napolitano, 60, joins seven other drivers in North America's 13,000-win club – in order, Dave Palone, Anthony Morgan, Aaron Merriman, Herve Filion, David Miller, Tim Tetrick and Cat Manzi. Many have connections to Philly – Palone won the feature race here on Opening Day in 2007, Morgan and Miller have raced here regularly in years past. Between Tetrick and Napolitano, they have won 19 of the 20 dash titles at the Harrah’s oval – and the other leader, in the inaugural 2007 season, was Manzi.
The native of Long Island, whose horses have earned more than $125 million, has found Eastern Pennsylvania to be very good to him. In addition to his eight sulky crowns and four UDR championships at Philly, Napolitano has won 15 dash, 13 UDR and five training titles at Pocono, and campaigned successfully at Pompano for several years. He also won the 2010 North American driving title.
During the afternoon's third round preliminary action of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotting fillies, Carve lowered her lifetime mark to 1:51.3 while rewriting the divisional track record from the 1:52.1 set by Fashion Annie in 2023. The Captain Corey-Alpine filly sat in the pocket behind fractions of :26.3, :55.1, and 1:23.1 in the $70,467 first division and benefitted from clever handling by driver Andrew McCarthy. As last year’s PASS champ Ginger Tree Lex (Scott Zeron) cleared pacesetter Maya Patel Hanover (Andy Miller) with a :26.4 backside move, Carve went out and up to challenge the new leader, wearing down her opponent by a half-length for trainer Noel Daley and lessees Patricia Stables of Massapequa, New York, L A Express Stable of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania and Sjoeblom Racing of Delray Beach, Florida. Shemightbetheone (Matt Kakaley) took third prize.
Frattina Diablo S became the only filly to post two PASS wins in this grouping to date when she triumphed in 1:52.3. Despite not racing since her other Sire Stakes win 26 days ago, the Captain Corey-Lindy Strong filly set fractions of :28.2, :57.1 and 1:25, then dug in to ward off persistent pocket challenger Little Road (Brady Brown) by a head with a :27.3 finishing kick. Tim Tetrick was in the sulky for trainer Tony Alagna and owners Steve Stewart of Paris, Kentucky and Dreamlover AB of Skegren, Sweden. Duicinea Hanover (Niko Karna) rounded out the top three, more than nine length behind.
Two more daughters of Captain Corey won in Stallion Series competition, both earning themselves a second series success in winning by open lengths. First up was I Take The Cake, who won her $28,571 division in 1:52.3 after trotting a last half of :55.4 for driver Scott Zeron and Ontario-based trainer Blake MacIntosh, who also co-owns with Hutt Racing Stable of Malvern, Pennsylvania. Just a fifth behind that one, and taking a new mark, was Islandgirl Hanover, who brushed to the lead during quarter two then stormed back numbers of :54.4 and :27.1 for trainer/driver Trond Smedshammer and owner Purple Haze Stables of Fairport, New York.
Trond Smedshammer took another Stallion Series cut with the sometimes-fractious but very fast Greenshoe filly Green Maztake, who came from sixth at the half, showing a :55.2 rallying kick to be along by a head over Skyline Salty Girl (Mike Wilder) while lowering her mark four seconds to 1:54.2 for M3 Racing Stable of Berlin, Ohio.
The International Moni filly Denarius was the other stakes success story on Friday, defeating Naachtun (Mattias Melander) by three parts of a length while lowering her mark to 1:52.4 for driver Scott Zeron, trainer Nancy Takter (her first start overseeing the filly) and Moni Maker Stable of Enfield, Connecticut.
The fastest mile of the day was the 1:49.3 put in by the Sweet Lou mare Sweetnikkilou A in the $22,857 distaff fast-class handicap. The six-year-old Aussie mare paced home strongly from second-over to win for driver Scott Zeron and trainer Nifty Norman and his Enzed Racing Stable.
Scott Zeron took driving honours for the day, scoring with the two Stallion Series trotters and two overnight horses on the 15-race card. Andrew McCarthy won three races, as did Trond Smedshammer (who also trains all three of his winners for the only training multiple of the afternoon).
Sunday’s card at Harrah’s Philly, which begins at 12:40 p.m., is focused as usual on fast pacing males, with a $14,000 USD feature for up-and-coming prospects and a $13,000 USD matchup for the established fast-class setup.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)