Liberty Bell stakes action continues

CHESTER PA – The Liberty Bell stakes series for Pennsylvania-sired harness racing youngsters continued on Sunday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with three-year-old trotting colts and two-year-old pacing fillies providing the action.

The first of the two cuts of the $77,000 (total purse) Liberty Bell divisions for babies produced a 1-2 finish for trainer Jim King Jr., as the Papi Rob Hanover – Paula’s Best miss Pilar Hanover moved to the lead in front of the stands, got a moderate half, then darted home in :55.3 – :27.2 to be well-clear of stablemate Lyons Anitasangel at the end of the 1:53.1 mile. Tim Tetrick guided the winner as she added a Liberty Bell crown to her three Stallion Series triumphs for owners Jo Ann Looney-King and Paton Racing Inc.

PILAR HANOVER REPLAY

Tetrick / King were right back in the winners circle after the second and faster division, with the Bettor’s Wish – Mcsauna miss Royally Hot after she lowered her mark to 1:51.3. The two-year-old showed racing technique beyond her years as he was caught in a shuffle on the final turn as the outer tier paced past the leader, but Tetrick (whose Tim Tetrick LLC owns the winner) was able to back her out to the two-wide flow and get her to accelerate quickly. Royally Hot, coming off a Keystone stakes victory, paced determinedly to go clear late of Beckoning Yankee, who won a three-horse photo for second ahead of Papi’s Opinion (third) and Lyons Benz (another Jim King trainee).

ROYALLY HOT REPLAY

The pair of fields of trotting males divided a $60,000 total bounty equally. First to parade back to Victory Lane was the Bar Hopping gelding Usain Hanover, who quarter-moved to command for driver Tyler Buter, trotting a middle half of :54.3 to take control of the race, and winning by himself in 1:53.1. Now a winner of half his fourteen seasonal starts, Usain Hanover is trained by Nifty Norman for his own Enzed Racing Stable Inc.

USAIN HANOVER REPLAY

The other stake trot provided a minor upset, as Blackhawk Zette was heavily-favored to record his eleventh win of the year. But the Greenshoe colt Luke The Spook proved the better sophomore on the day, moving uncovered down the backstretch and easily going by the pacesetting chalk while lowering his mark to 1:53 for driver Mattias Melander, trainer/brother Marcus Melander, and AM Bloodstock Inc.

LUKE THE SPOOK REPLAY

Tim Tetrick had three wins on the day, George Napolitano Jr. one, which means that the two drivers who have between them won the last seventeen Philly dashwinning titles (Tetrick nine, Napolitano eight) are dead-even at 121 victories during 2024.

Thursday afternoon racing at 12:25 returns in the next live Philly card, as the track goes back to its normal fall schedule by following up with a 12:25 card Friday and a 12:40 program on Sunday.

Free Philly programs are or will be available at www.phha.org.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

From the PHHA / Harrah’s Philadelphia