Straight off a victory in the Lynch Consolation at Pocono, Rockn Philly won as the heavy favourite in the $17,000 featured distaff pace on Friday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, but she had to be sharp in the stretch to wear down pacesetting Lyons Hedgeabet in 1:51.2.
The victorious sophomore daughter of A Rocknroll Dance was away second for the meet’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, as Lyons Hedgeabet beat the entire field away from the outside post eight and put up fractions of :27, :55.3, and 1:22.3. The leader did not surrender easily, but Rockn Philly found enough late to defeat her main rival by a half-length for trainer Jim King Jr. and the ownership of Tim Tetrick LLC and Jo Ann Looney-King.
There were a pair of $16,000 subfeatures, one for filly and mare pacers and the other for trotters. The pacing event was captured by Alii Nui. The Captaintreachrous sophomore filly advanced with cover, went three-deep mid-far turn, swept by pacesetting Afraid Not Hanover, then held off the inside move of Ilana Z Tam in 1:52.3 by three parts of a length. Driver Marcus Miller’s father Erv trains the winner, now victorious in four of her last eight starts for Ervin Miller Stable Inc., Hannah Miller, Nick Surick Stable LLC, and Louis Willinger.
On the trot, Amador passed Smooth Acceleration going to the quarter and set reasonable middle fractions, with Massive Opulence grinding up first-over. When the first-up made a break at headstretch, Smooth Acceleration moved out to challenge, but driver Simon Allard kept the Yankee Glide sophomore gelding Amador rolling and nosed out his charging rival in 1:55.4. It was the second consecutive victory notched by Amador for owner/trainer Joseph King.
Jackpot Hi-5, Pick-4 carryovers Sunday at Harrah's Philadelphia
A pair of carryovers will await players on Sunday (July 14) at Harrah's Philadelphia, as not only did multiple players successfully select the daily Jackpot Hi-5 combination on Friday afternoon (July 12), but a spree of long shots in the Pick-4 sequence rendered that bet without a winner.
In the fifth race, Tyson ($2.80, Victor Kirby) keyed a 4-6-2-9-8 Hi-5 combination that yielded $163.62 to multiple players and boosted the carryover for that wager to $39.416.38. The Jackpot Hi-5 is a 20-cent wager that occurs daily in the fifth race and requires players to select the top five finishers in order. The jackpot is paid in the event of one unique winning ticket.
Three odds-on favourites were upended in the Pick-4 sequence, with Misscheckmatehill ($52.60, Donald Dupont), Piraeus ($20.40, David Miller), Iron Mistress ($67.00, Ray Baynes) and Brunhilda ($22.80, Marcus Miller) proving victorious. With no players successfully selecting all four winners, a $3,459.69 carryover will head to Sunday's seventh race.
Post time for Sunday's 14-race card is 12:40 p.m.
(with files from PHHA / Harrah's Philadelphia)