Top Gun Hanover made two speed moves to control the pace, with the Googo Gagaa Three-year-old filly Kewpie Doll was content to remain in third place until the pocket horse could no longer keep up and driver Johnathan Ahle pulled the right line of his attack. Kewpie Doll trotted methodically towards the pacer on the far turn and much of the way into the track, showing she still had a bit more left in the tank, near the wire, to make a decision on length. The winner, who has now triumphed in three of her last four, is owned by Dreamlover AB and Engblom Stable LLC.
KEWPIE POP REPETITION
Trainer Engblom again teamed with driver Ahle to win the $13,500 co-feature with Kanon Laser DK, who won his North American debut by swinging wide out of the far turn and narrowly catching Flight Of Fritz by a neck in 1:57.4.
Flight Of Fritz attacked first, gaining an advantage over midstretch, but could not hold off the Danish-bred modified son of One Too Many, owned by Engblom Stable LLC and Kasper Foget.
GUN LASER DK WINS FOR ENGBLOM REPLAY
The Walter Three-year-old filly Entertain Me had gone without a win in 13 of 20 starts in 2025 before coming in after a two-hole trip to win the $12,000 third-level event for developing trotters. Kyle Symington rode the sophomore miss to a new race mark of 1:59 for trainer Noel Daley and Harbor Racing Stable LLC.
The $11,000 claiming handicap pace for expensive horses ended in a 1:53.2 dead heat between favorite The Boss Said (George Napolitano Jr.), which has given him four wins in his last six starts, and The Bizzness N (Mark Herschberger), who has now triumphed in two of his last three. The Boss Said set the pace; Staying in third place, the Bizzness N moved up as the outer tiers came to a standstill, and was just on its way to taking the win. (Track announcer Mike Bozich astutely noted that the race, the second on the card, was one of the few cases with three double payouts, as there was also a consolation double on a late scratch.)
For the second year in a row, Harrah’s Philadelphia had the honor of hosting the world’s very last Christmas Eve race, according to the simulcasting network, although this year the card from Valparaiso, Chile (simulcast via Laurel runners) ran until five minutes before Philly’s final post.
No fewer than ten riders had multiple winners on the card. Drivers with three wins were Johnathan Ahle, two for trainer Per Engblom as mentioned above; Corey Callahan, for three different barns; and Mark Herschberger, who won races one, two and fifteen, the last two ahead of Ron Burke. The doubles went to Brandon Givens (both for trainer Mark Akins), George Napolitano Jr. and Kyle Symington (both for trainer Noel Daley).
Harrah’s Philadelphia wishes everyone a happy December 25th. The track returns with the last three cards of the year: on Friday at 12:25; on Sunday at 12:40 p.m., with a dandy $18,000 Invitational trot, and then on New Year’s Eve Wednesday at 4 p.m., with all potential carryover pools mandatorily distributed in their final iteration on the card. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.pha.org.
For full race results, click here: American trotting results.
From the PHHA/Harrah’s Philadelphia
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