Dire Straits wins in a Philly romp

CHESTER, PA – Dire Straits (Muscle Hill) was the sultan of speed in the $12,000 fast-class trotting harness racing feature on Thursday afternoon (Aug. 29) at Harrah’s Philadelphia, making a strong midrace move to command and then powering off to a 5¼ length victory in 1:52.

Driver Ridge Warren, whose name you’ll see a couple more times in this story, settled Dire Straits in third before the :27 initial fraction, then moved him out in front of the stands and made the lead before the :55.4 half. Several foes looked to still have a shot at the 1:24.1 three-quarters, but Dire Straits blitzed home in :27.4 for the easy win over a pair of horses who combined have won over $4.3 million in their careers, Crystal Fashion (second) and JL Cruze (third). Marcus Melander conditions Dire Straits for owners Richard Gutnick, Thomas Pontone, and Gary Cocco.

DIRE STRAITS REPLAY

There were also a trio of $12,000 contests for developing youngsters. The pacing contest saw a spectacular display from Crush Kill Destroy, as the Betterthancheddar sophomore colt lived up to his name in taking a 1:50.1 mark. Ridge Warren drove the sophomore, who had been second to the heralded Nijinsky in an Ontario stake in his last start, who went down the road with splits of :27.2, :55.1, and 1:21.3 in winning by 5¼ lengths for trainer Per Engblom, whose Engblom Stable LLC shares ownership with Evans Nation.

CRUSH KILL DESTROY REPLAY

Warren also won the quicker of the two co-features on the trot, using craftiness instead of raw power in driving the Bar Hopping three-year-old filly I See A Star to a neck margin over Caviart Irish Luck while lowering her record to 1:55. Warren kept the filly in third, followed his main opponent outside after the outer tier stalled, then swung wide and was along for trainer Kerry Welty and owner Brian Emerson.

I SEE A STAR REPLAY

The other trot division saw Jackie Ingrassia put the Greenshoe sophomore miss Green Zone into a grinding position outside of favored Brickyard Rally, went by when that one made a break into the stretch and bothered second choice Poisonpoke, then went on to a 1¼ length success over Jesmach On Target,. Ingrassia’s husband Frank conditions the winner, who lowered her record three seconds to 1:55.3, and she co-owns the trotter with Arden Homestead Stable.

GREEN ZONE REPLAY

In all, Ridge Warren paraded back four winners, as did George Napolitano Jr. – giving red-and-white-clad drivers eight of the day’s fourteen wins. Scott Stranahan also deserves a mention because on Thursday at age 59 he sent out his first lifetime winning trainee with Racing Money.

A $13,500 pacing feature for up-and-coming females tops the 12:25 Friday card at Philly; there is also a $12,000 claiming handicap pace where the entrants show lines with them winning at a 39% clip and posting a .553 “UDR.” There will also be carryover into the fifth race Pick 5 wager. 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