Warrawee Yang was extremely sharp upon coming to Harrah’s Philadelphia from Yonkers on Thursday, Sept. 5, easily chasing down heavy favourite Dire Straits while winning the $18,919 fast-class handicap trot in 1:53.1.
Jack Pelling sent the son of Trixton quickly to the top, and when Dire Straits (Ride Warren) came quarter-moving at the :28 opener, Warrawee Yang made him work for the lead a good part of the way to the :56.3 half. Most of the field was having trouble keeping up behind the pacesetter nearing the 1:25.1 three-quarters, but Warrawee Yang was tight on him, and the stretch contest didn’t prove to be much of one, as the 9-1 winner went by the chalk more easily than the length final margin might suggest. Ron Burke conditions the winner of $307,686 for the ubiquitous Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
In a $13,513 fast class subfeature, the 13-year-old Crazed gelding JL Cruze won in 1:53.2, this 69th victory in his evergreen double-millionaire career. His connections, trainer Eric Ell and owners Ken Wood, Bill Dittmar Jr., and Steve Iaquinta, purchased him late in his three-year-old campaign, and they have been with him all the way but for three wins.. And here’s a good trivia question – how many different drivers do you think have guided JL Cruze to victory in his career? The answer is near the bottom of this article.
There were three $16,216 co-featured races for up-and-coming horses, two of them on the trot. The faster contest went to Mucho Loco, a Walner gelding who headed for the top and never looked back. He established a lifetime best win time of 1:54.4 while withstanding pocket-sitting chalk Oliver The Great by 2-1/2 lengths. Simon Allard did the sulkysitting for trainer Mark Akins and A 1 Racing.
The other was taken by the Donato Hanover gelding Brickyard Rally, who rallied to get the lead in mid-stretch and then held off favoured Sir Hiss by a diminishing head in 1:55.3. George Napolitano Jr. drove the winner for trainer-owner Ray Baynes.
On the pace, the Stay Hungry sophomore gelding Sir John B looks to be a fine recent addition for trainer Tim Crissman and owner Niss Allen Inc., as he moved early to the lead then powered home in :55.2 to complete a 1:52.1 tally, 1-3/4 lengths clear of a game parked-the-mile JK Parcells. Tony Morgan did the driving, just as he did at Harrington when Sir John B made a winning debut for his new sponsorship.
George Napolitano Jr. won the last race of the day with the well-traveled Rogers Image for the meet’s leading trainer, Dean Eckley. The win in the last event gave him three Thursday successes to lead all drivers on the day, and it moved Napolitano, an eight-time Philly seasonal dashleader, into second place at the current meet behind Tim Tetrick. Also second at Pocono, behind Matt Kakaley, Napolitano stands ninth in the North American standings with 314 wins this season.
Answer to question about JL Cruze’s number of winning drivers: including Ridge Warren’s victory behind him Thursday, 18 different pilots have visited Victory Lane behind him. John Campbell leads the list with 22 tallies; then comes Corey Callahan (9), Dexter Dunn and Art Stafford Jr. (8 each), and Tim Tetrick (5).
Philly will be right back in action on Friday with a 12:25 first post, and a carryover into the fifth race Pick 5; on Sunday, the track will be proud to host the $320,000 USD Pennsylvania Stallion Series Championships for all eight divisions of stakes horses.
(PHHA / Harrah's Philadelphia; photo from a previous win)