Greenshoe sired four out of the five stakes winners at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Friday, July 11, including both winners in the third preliminary leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for sophomore trotting males.
The card featuring $222,116 of stakes action was an unusual afternoon in another way: all of the winners were coming off significant gaps in what would be a regular racing schedule.
Fashion Green, the faster Sire Stakes winner in a new mark of 1:52.3, is undefeated in six starts lifetime, but four of them were in early summer of his two-year-old year, one was April 24 of this year and one was Friday. Trainer Jim Campbell had the Greenshoe-Fashion Athena gelding ready off the layoff, as the sophomore sat behind early fractions of :28.3 and :57.2, then moved uncovered to the three-quarters in 1:25 and continued getting faster, coming his own back splits in :55.2 and :27.1 while looking good for driver Tim Tetrick and owner/breeder Fashion Farms. The odds-on favourite won by 1-1/2 lengths over pacesetter Hey Porter (Scott Zeron) and The Fix Is In (Charlie Norris).
Greenma was undoubtedly helped when favoured rival Meshuggah (Scott Zeron) jumped at the start of the other cut, but despite being off for 20 days, he too would have been tough to deny today under any circumstances. Trainer/driver Trond Smedshammer sat with the Greenshoe-Ma Was Right gelding through mild fractions of :29 and :59.1, but the pair then came raw, gained even with the three-quarters speeding up to 1:26.3 and kept on increasing the velocity, covering his back half in :54 while lowering his mark to 1:53.4 for owner Purple Haze Stables. Cheers Hanover (David Miller) settled for second after cutting the mile, 1-1/4 lengths behind the 3-1 winner while Bombay Tom (Mike Wilder) completed the top three more than 10 lengths in arrears.
It’s a fair question to ask what these two Sire Stakes winners might be doing on the first Saturday in August.
All three winners in the Stallion Series action had raced in an All-Stars event at Pocono on May 18, but in the intervening 54 days, two had raced twice and one once – yet the trio, with no previous Stallion Series victories among them, still beat seven other horses (one a doubler) who had previously won Stallion Series races. The Greenshoe colt that equalled the 1:54.2 quickest of these miles (and is the sole colt of the four winners for that sire), Manoah, was hard-used but still tallied for trainer Anette Lorentzon, owner Courant Inc. and meet-leading driver Tim Tetrick, giving him a win in both of the stakes sections while coming home first four times overall on the day.
The other 1:54.2 Stallion Series winner, the Bar Hopping colt Give Me A Yankee, was the one who had raced but once since that May 18 common date, but he responded sharply from the pocket to reduce his speed tab for driver Simon Allard, trainer Mark Akins and the pair’s A 1 Racing.
The fourth Greenshoe winner was Green Mel and second-time Lasix he made every pole a winning one in 1:55.4 for driver Andy Miller, trainer Julie Miller and the combine of Willow Oak Racing, Michael Anderson and Andy Miller Stable Inc.
On a day where half the 14 races were won by the favourites, Sporty Dragon was driven well by Johnathan Ahle for trainer/owner Ray Burt to get home first and pay $136.20 to win – biggest price at Philly since Nov. 10 of last year.
Racing resumes at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 12:40 p.m. start time.
(With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)