Two-year-old fillies trained by Richard 'Nifty' Norman were showcased in the John Simpson Memorial Stakes at Harrah's Philadelphia on Friday (September 29), winning three of the afternoon's $30,000 divisions.
Among the Simpson Stakes freshman filly winners were Norman trainees Maria Deo, Reign On Me and Sandys Beach.
Trotting filly Maria Deo (Muscle Hill-Tonato Of Love) led wire-to-wire in 1:58.2 for a 36-1 upset in the first division of the day with Victor Kirby aboard for Deo Volente Farms and T L P Stable. It was a maiden-breaking victory for the six-time starter.
Jennifer Dalton Stable's Reign On Me (Well Said-Indulge Me) won the first pacing division, looping the early leader and drawing off by more than six lengths to stop the clock in 1:53.1 in rein to George Napolitano Jr. Sent postward as the 1-9 favourite, she extended her win streak to three while notching her fourth victory overall from nine outings.
Owned and bred by David McDuffee, Sandys Beach (Somebeachsomewhere-Shoobeedobeedo) and Kirby inherited the 1:55.3 win in another pacing split after a judges' ruling took down first finisher Better Than Happy for a racing infraction. The 4-5 favoured filly now has two wins on her nine-race resume.
The third pacing split went to the Jake Huff-trained Azreal As It Gets (So Surreal-Vanite Semalu) while the Simpson winners on the trot included Looking For Zelda (Break The Bank K-My Winning Way K) for trainer Norm Parker and Perfect Summer K (Conway Hall-American Miss K) for the Andrew Harris stable -- both owned and bred by Robert Key -- and Chuck Sylvester trainee Weekend Wit Bigd (Lucky Chucky-Weekend Vacation), another Kirby-driven winner.