Harrah's Philadelphia: Hit Me Up clocks fastest mile in PA Sire Stakes

While heavy favorites won in two of the three divisions of the second preliminary of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes for 2-year-old pacing fillies Thursday afternoon at Harrah's Philadelphia, the fastest winner upset the favorite - and she came to the race not only from the Stallion Series, but from a second in the second-tier series.

The Always B Miki-Gallie Beach filly Hit Me Up was developed by Brian Brown, and it was for his barn that she was second, beaten only a neck, by Lyons Serenity, in a first round Stallion Series contest. Now trained by Jennifer Bongiorno, Hit Me Up's connections, including owner Joshua Graber, decided to try her against Sire Stakes competition.

The move paid off as 6-1 shot Hit Me Up and driver Joe Bongiorno got away in the pocket behind Jazzed, the chalk off a Sire Stakes win in the first leg, and stalked the pace-setter through fractions of 27 3/5, 56, and 1:24 2/5. Hit Me Up came her own last quarter in 27 2/5 to catch Jazzed by a length in a lifetime-best of 1:52 1/5.

The other two Sires winners were both successful in the first state-sired leg, and both are daughters of Captaintreacherous. Captain Cowgirl (dam: Rideintothesunset) went faster (1:52 2/5) in round one than both Sire Stakes winners in taking a Stallion Series division, and like Hit Me Up she made the class jump successfully, missing her previous win clocking by a tick with a 1:52 2/5 tally. Captain Cowgirl was moved by driver Tim Tetrick past a 27 3/5 quarter to the lead before the 56 4/5 half, then went to the three-quarters in 1:24 2/5 and paced home strongly for her second straight stakes win for trainer Jim King Jr. and owners Jo Ann Looney-King and Kenneth Frieder.

Lake Dora (dam: Bodacious Hanover) is the only baby filly with a pair of Sire Stakes wins in this group as she dropped two-fifths from her mark to 1:52 3/5. Quarter-moving after the 27 3/5 first split, Yannick Gingras got a rest with his filly to a 56 4/5 half, then tacked on successive quarters of 28 and 27 4/5 to win comfortably for trainer Nancy Takter and Rojan Stables, Caviart Farms, and R A W Equine Stables Inc.

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