Harrah's Philadelphia: Mardi Gras Man, Highland B Best win Liberty Bell stakes
Even though the calendar said November 1, there were still a pair of 1:49 2/5 miles in two $30,000 divisions of the Liberty Bell Stake for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers on Sunday afternoon over Harrah's Philadelphia's five-eighths-mile oval.
The program got off to a quick start when the Stay Hungry gelding Mardi Gras Man equaled his mark in the first Liberty Bell section. A winner of seven straight in the lower ranks, but in-and-out in his last few races, Mardi Gras Man left no doubt as to his sharp form for trainer Stacy Chiodo and Timothy Tobias Stable. Simon Allard kept the sophomore in third through early fractions of 26 3/5 and 55 1/5, then gave Mardi Gras Man the word and got a 26 1/5 third quarter response to clear to the lead before the 1:22 three-quarters. The pair kept rolling in the 27 2/5 finishing stanza to win by 3 3/4 lengths over Good Friday.
The 1:49 2/5 win of the Always B Miki gelding Highland B Best represented an outright lifetime-best and his second straight victory. Troy Beyer got the 3-year-old to sit in the two-hole as Toast Of The Town produced fractions of 26 2/5, 54 3/5 and 1:22, then got Highland B Best in gear quickly to pace home in 27 1/5 and catch the pace-setter by a neck for trainer Katie Beyer and Highland Thoroughbred Farm.
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Both Mardi Gras Man (6-5) and Highland B Best (8-5) were second choices in the wagering, as was the winner of the $16,000 fast-class pace, the Sweet Lou gelding Christopher Dance N (who was even shorter on the odds board at even-money), as he stopped the timer in 1:50 2/5 to defeat Goliath Hanover, who had made a second quarter brush to the top, by three-quarters of a length. Christopher Dance N, who got a two-hole trip, paced home in 53 4/5 - 26 3/5 for driver Mark Herschberger, trainer Enrico Robinson and Pollack Racing LLC.
George Napolitano Jr. topped the drivers list with three victories; sitting in the winning sulky seat twice were amateur driver Cote Keim (who also trained his pair), Mark Herschberger (both for trainer Enrico Robinson), Johnathan Ahle and Simon Allard. Allard's two-bagger again put him in the lead of the currently see-sawing battle with Tim Tetrick at the top of the local seasonal drivers list, 118-117, while Scott Di Domenico's 43rd winner at the meet gave him the outright lead, with Joe Bongiorno and Dean Eckley a single triumph behind.
Racing resumes at the riverside oval on Thursday at 12:25 p.m. (EST), with 2-year-old fillies in Liberty Bell stakes action: one $45,600 division for the trotters and two $34,500 cuts for the pacers.
--press release (PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia)--