Prospect Hill captured his second-straight stakes, trotting fastest in the $184,588 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Tuesday, July 17 at The Meadows with a 1:56.3 mile.
The event for freshman colt and gelding trotters, known as the Hickory Pride, was contested over four divisions, with White Tiger, Demon Onthe Hill and Mass Fortune K taking the other splits.
A $130,000 yearling acquisition for Stroy Inc., Prospect Hill broke his maiden with an on-the-front score in a Pennsylvania All-Stars division. In the Hickory Pride, he quarter-poled to the front for driver Andy Miller and trainer Julie Miller and was an easy victor from there, downing early leader Amico Mio Bi by one-and-three-quarter lengths. First-up Marseille finished third.
“He seems to really like the front, and he really charges home strong when he’s commanding the race,” Andy Miller said of the son of Muscle Hill-Louise Kemp. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. His first start he followed and was really good. He’ll go to the next sires stake or the Peter Haughton. We haven’t decided for sure.”
White Tiger, trained by Andrew Harris for Thestable White Tiger Group and driven by Anthony MacDonald, brushed wide through the lane to edge Ginger Tree Skyr by a head in 1:57, with Fashion Possessed third.
“He hears a lot of voices,” MacDonald said. “As long as you get him on a day when he hears the right one, he’s real class. I wanted to keep him [in] a constant enough gear to where he wasn’t startled. Around the last turn when I called on him, I figured he had enough racetrack. He’s an incredibly fast horse. He has the Peter Haughton next.”
Demon Onthe Hill broke in his debut in the Pennsylvania All-Stars, but was well behaved in the Hickory Pride, saving ground and firing late to score in 1:57 for driver Mike Milder, trainer Marcus Melander and owner Vicky Trotting Inc. Flippen Creek finished second, beaten two-and-three-quarter lengths, while Northern Express completed the ticket.
“When he broke at Pocono last week, he just took a bad step in the last turn,” Wilder said. “His connections felt he could have won in 1:56, and I don’t think they were far off. He was on cruise control today. He showed a lot of manners and felt terrific.”
In the $20,000 Preferred Handicap Trot, Call For Justice vaulted over $500,000 in career earnings with a 1:53.3 victory — his second straight — in the passing lane. Swell Chap was second, one-and-three-quarter lengths back, with early leader Classicality third. Ron Burke trains the son of Justice Hall-Mika’s Mazurka for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, LLC.
The Meadows Racetrack & Casino has doubled — to $10,000 — the total-pool guarantee for its Wednesday, July 18 Pick 5 wager as part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Initiative.
While $5,000 Pick 5 guarantees are offered each card, The Meadows sweetened the pot when Tuesday’s Pick 5 was uncovered, resulting in a carryover of $2,687.07.
In addition, Wednesday’s card includes a $7,500 total-pool guarantee for the Pick 4 as well as a $2,534.60 jackpot in the Super High 5.
Minimum wager for the Pick 4 (races 4-7), Pick 5 (races 10-14) and Super High 5 (race 14) is 50 cents. Since Pennsylvania law requires a minimum per-race wager of $2, a player wagering at the 50-cent level must bet at least four tickets.
First post Wednesday is 1:05 p.m.
(With files from The Meadows)