Harrah's Philadelphia: Lather Up, Crystal Fashion score in qualifiers

During a mild Tuesday morning qualifying session at Harrah’s Philadelphia, many stakes horses at age 2 put in good prep races for their upcoming season, but it was a pair of horses turning 4 that drew the spotlight.

Lather Up went coast-to-coast in his event for driver Montrell Teague and trainer Clyde Francis, hanging up easy fractions of 28 3/5 and 58, then turning on the speed for back postings of 1:25 2/5 and 1:53 4/5. The son of I’m Gorgeous, a major factor in the pacing glamour division all last year, won by 1-3/4 lengths over New York Sire Stakes champion Rockapelo, who came from Parts Unknown with a 26 2/5 last quarter to be second.

Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Trotter of the Year Crystal Fashion, a million-dollar earner at 3 and usually right there with the top of his class, stepped home in a personal back half in 56 3/5 to win going away in 1:57 1/5, with the Cantab Hall gelding handled by Tim Tetrick for trainer Jim Campbell.

All of the 3-year-old divisions were represented by horses posting sharp showings:

► The Cantab Hall colt Klutzy, a stakes winner of his last two starts at 2, looked solid with a 1:56 2/5 win in his first sophomore charted line, stepping home in 57 1/5 for driver Andy Miller and trainer Julie Miller.

► Another Cantab Hall offspring, the filly Magical Beliefs, eight times first or second at 2 while in the thick of stakes company, took her second straight qualifying win at 3, this time rallying from the pocket to easily tally in 1:57 4/5 for Tetrick and trainer Linda Toscano;

► The Bettor’s Delight colt Bettor’s Wish, who earned over a quarter million in his initial campaign with success in the Ontario and Kentucky programs, stepped each of his own back two panels in 28 to complete a 1:53 3/5 triumph for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Chris Ryder.

► And the sophomore pacing filly ranks yielded two winners to watch. One was the So Surreal filly So Awesome, who got revenge over Money Shot Hanover for her nose defeat in last year’s NYSS final by winning Tuesday in 1:55 4/5, using uncovered tactics and pacing home in 56 3/5 – 27 3/5 for Tetrick and trainer Scott Di Domenico. The other was the $485G+-winning Zero Tolerance, a daughter of Heston Blue Chip who was second in the Breeders Crown and Three Diamonds; she paced successive 28 1/5 quarters coming home on the engine to freeze the timer at 1:55 1/5 for driver David Miller and trainer Joe Holloway.

-edited release (PHHA/Philadelphia)