CHESTER PA – Hall of Fame driver David Miller, in his final start as an “East Coast regular” before returning to Ohio, made a cameo visit to Harrah’s Philadelphia, a successful farewell while driving the Livestock washing sophomore gelding Tom Horn to his sixth straight harness racing win at $11,000 pace on Sunday afternoon.
Although Tom Horn was heavily favored due to the long win streak, he had to work very hard to achieve success in 1:51.4 for trainer Ron Burke and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable Inc., W Donovan, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and his driver. The three-year-old took off for the pocket behind Divine Right in a 27.4 quarter, finished third as Delray Beach moved ahead near the :56.4 half, and later launched an uncovered move into the backstretch toward a 1:24.1 three-quarter.
Delray Beach proved resilient in the lead, and Divine Right made his presence felt inside, but Tom Horn dug in and prevailed by half a length over Delray Beach, with Divine Right only a neck back in third.
Miller returns to the Buckeye State after making Tom Horn his 14,818th winner (fifth all-time, behind Palone, Morgan, Merriman and Filion), and with a total of $298,789,894, which should grow and surpass John Campbell’s record of $299,892,141 sometime this spring.
TOM HORN REPEAT
The top prizes of the day were $12,000, offered to two divisions of developing younger men, with both races timed in 1:54. The trailblazing Tonto Returns established his lead late against favored first-over War No More, who finished well behind the winner, as the triumphant Fort Knox gelding claimed his fourth straight victory for driver Simon Allard, trainer Per Engblom and the partnership of Evans Nation, Engblom Stable LLC and Hickory Hollow Stables.
RJ’s Red Devil, a recent winner in a $150,000 stakes final in Massachusetts, also stopped the timer in 1:54, coming first and still leaving Twin B Fresh Bet, the horse behind the winner’s stud, 1¼ lengths back. Tim Tetrick was in the sulky for trainer Travis Alexander and Fiddler’s Creek Stables LLC.
The winning drivers in the biggest prize races also had the only multiple winning days. The meet leader, Tim Tetrick, had three successes, including a 1:51.1 win with Jack’s Shadow N, which was the fastest time of the day, and Simon Allard visited the winners circle twice.
Racing at Harrah’s Philadelphia will follow the regular fall schedule next week: Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. The “Trottin’ Thursday” card will feature a carryover to the fifth race Pick 5 bet; Friday’s program will provide the final chance for Pacers to claim their way to their series championship, with multiple divisions (and some claiming) likely. Philly will be dark for live racing on Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday (Nov. 27 and 28), then resume on Sunday, Nov. 30, the day of the $12,500 claiming series championship.
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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