Harrah's Philadelphia: Gingras, Burke team up for Liberty Bell double

The Liberty Bell Stakes series continued $120,400 strong on Thursday afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia, with 2-year-old fillies, two divisions on the trot and one on the pace, having to work in cool temperatures and battling both each other and a strong stretch headwind.

Yannick Gingras once again showed why he is a Hall of Fame driver with a nerveless steer behind Sandyboots Yankee in winning the first of the two Liberty Bell pacing divisions. JK Sassy Lady crossed over to the top in the field of five; Sandyboots Hanover just inside her was looped, three-wide and forced to take back to last. The four in front of her paired up two and two down the back and through the final turn; Gingras chose to put the daughter of Always B Miki-A Beach Cowgirl in a blindswitch when the second-over tipped wide, which left her last at the stretch call.

When that one couldn’t keep up into the lane, Gingras shot the Ron Burke trainee into that emerging space and came along well to win in 1:53 4/5 by three-quarters of a length over JK Sassy Lady while restoring a regular breathing pattern to her 2-5 backers. Sandyboots Yankee, another Simpson-Liberty Bell doubler, won for Burke Racing Stable LLC. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC., Larry Karr, and Phil Collura.

Gingras and Burke came right back in the second Liberty Bell pace, this time with the Tall Dark Stranger-Apple Bottom Jeans miss With The Fur as she broke her maiden in 1:54 3/5. With The Fur, an 8-1 shot, had a cushy ride in the three-hole, moved out on the turn, and left the field well behind her as she made her first win a stakes success for owner Howard Taylor.

The lone Liberty Bell event for trotters saw Berry Good News, who in her last start had made an early break but still came back to miss just a neck to Sister Wine, reverse that decision today in 1:56 3/5. The victorious daughter of Greenshoe- Poof She's Gone barreled away strongly and put Sister Wine in behind her, set the pace, then had enough left to hold off that game rival, this week's margin a head. There was a "Tyler" Exacta in this race, as driver Buter beat driver Miller, with the winner trained by Nifty Norman for Melvin Hartman and David Mc Duffee.

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There were two trotting features for the overnight set, and both were won by driver Johnathan Ahle. A $13,500 contest for up-and-coming horses went to the International Moni sophomore miss Moni Buys Happiness, who had a rough trip that included a long first-over battle, yet despite 47 days off dug down to beat out the favored second-over Manoah by a neck in 1:55 2/5. Richard Hans, always to remembered for his hand in Googoo Gaagaa, is the trainer and owner of the winner of four out of seven starts after not racing at two.

The International Moni gelding Khaosan Road proved a half-length better than pace-setting millionaire favorite Chapercraz in a classic stretch duel to take the $13,000 fast-class feature in 1:53 3/5. Ahle sent Khaosan Road front-ward early, then yielded to sit on the back of the chalk, vacated the golden chair mid-turn, and had to go all he could to defeat the stubborn leader while running his earnings to $493,056 for trainer Ake Svanstedt and the partnership of Knutsson Trotting Inc. and Little E LLC.

Driver Simon Allard had a driving triple, two of them for trainer Per Engblom. Driving doubles were recorded by Johnathan Ahle (the two fast-class features), Yannick Gingras (the two Burke stakes horses), Tyler Miller, and Jack Pelling; in addition to Burke and Engblom (1-2 in North America in wins), Jenny Melander trained two winners on the Thursday card.

The Friday 12:25 program marks the end of the 2025 run of the Liberty Bell stakes Series at the southeast Pennsylvania oval, with the "glamour boys," the 3-year-old males, in action - three divisions for pacers, with such nationally-known names as Prince Hal Hanover and Twisted Destiny, and two sections for trotters. Friday also marks the start of a claiming series for horse valued at $10,000, with five divisions in this first leg; the best from three preliminary legs will come back to contest a $12,500 Championship on November 30.

--press release (Harrah's Philadelphia / PHHA)--