“Team Orange Crush” swept the two trotting features at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, with the $15,300 top purse event seeing the red-hot Archangel four-year-old gelding Angel Nation come within a fifth of a second of his group’s track record with a powerful 1:52.1 victory.
Driver Tyler Miller “went to the front and improved his position from there,” as the saying goes, with Angel Nation putting up fractions of :27, :55.4, and 1:24. Favoured Eva Dairpet FR was advancing uncovered, and the talented Hayek was well-placed in the pocket, but Angel Nation’s sheer speed was more than enough to hold that pair off while coming within a fifth of a second of the 2019 mark set by Scirocco Rob. A winner of four straight, Angel Nation looks headed for better things, with Julie Miller conditioning the streaking diamond gaiter for the Legendary Standardbred Farm and Ted MacDonnell.
In the $13,000 fast-class trot, world champion Big Oil never looked back through fractions of :27.1, :56.1, and 1:24.1 en route to a 1:53 victory, 1-1/4 lengths to the good of pocket sitter The Veteran, with Andy Miller driving the Team member for Jason, Douglas, and Ronald Allen.
Three events were held for two-year-old trotting fillies, many of whom were preparing for next Friday’s Sire Stakes and Stallion Series racing at Philly: the winners were Design Fashion (Donato Hanover, 1:57.3), Money Matters (Explosive Matter, 1:58) and Born On Third Base (Donato Hanover, 1:58.3).
But the two-year-old trotter who may have had the most fascination was the debuting Pretender, who trotted his own last half in :57.2 to win in 1:58 for driver Jimmy Takter, trainer Nancy Takter, and the ownership of John Fielding, Caviart Farms, Joyce McClelland and Herb Liverman. This colt is by Muscle Hill out of the $2M-winning champion Maven, and he looked like he wants to live up to that pedigree.
Another event for two-year-old trotting fillies is scheduled for Friday’s card, along with four $12,600 divisions of the popular “nw 3 races” condition.
(PHHA / Harrah’s Philadelphia)