Almost Persuaded didn't win over the bettors, but the 9-1 shot was convincing in the $32,143 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace with a hard-fought photo-finish victory on Tuesday July, 7 at Harrington Raceway.
A field of seven went postward in the feature, and Almost Persuaded took the group to the opening quarter in :27.1 for Russell Foster. The top distaffs marched to the half-mile in :56.1 while favourite Stevie Hanover (Montrell Teague), who had won three straight Opens, applied pressure first over to three-quarters in 1:24.3. In the stretch, Almost Persuaded dug in and held off all comers to prevail by a head in 1:53.2 in a four-across finish. Stevie Hanover was a game second, with Jett Propelled (Jason Thompson) firing home for third, a neck back of the winner. Lil Miss Wondrphyl (Brandon Givens) narrowly missed the show cheque.
Almost Persuaded scored her first win since May to bring her seasonal record to six-for-20 for owner-trainer Bryan Truitt. The four-year-old Captaintreacherous-Enhance Your Mind mare has won 12 times in 35 career outings. She paid $21.80 to win.
On the undercard, Calcutta Stable LLC’s Earth Angel (Troy Beyer, $86.80) sprung an upset with a 1:54 triumph in the $25,714 Fillies and Mares Open II Handicap Pace for trainer Jason Johnson. She got up by a nose over Nite Time Deal (Brandon Givens), with Gogettermisscheddr (Tony Morgan) third.
Live racing at Harrington will go on a hiatus after the July 8 program, which has a first post time of 4:30 p.m.
The biggest night of the year for Delaware harness racing is July 23 with the Delaware State Fair racing program (7 p.m. post time). The card features the $110,000 USD Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund finals and longstanding races, such as the $50,000 USD Governor’s Cup, for older horses. The meet will then resume on Aug. 17.
(With files from Harrington Raceway)