Harrah's Philadelphia: Twisted Destiny, Prince Hal Hanover among Liberty Bell winners

Prince Hal Hanover and Twisted Destiny, two Pennsylvania-sired sophomore colts who have been racing against Louprint and the very best of the state's pacing "glamour division" since May, are still going strong in November, winning divisions of their Liberty Bell Stakes on Friday afternoon at Harrah's Philadelphia on a chilly day with a strong stretch headwind.

Twisted Destiny had the fastest clocking of the three $30,000 sections for the section, winning in 1:51 1/5 for driver Dexter Dunn, trainer Chris Ryder, and Let It Ride Stable Inc., Alberg Racing LLC., Enviro Stables LTD., and Jesmeral Stable. The Bettor's Wish colt took over soon past the quarter, then came home in 55 2/5 to withstand a resilient TH Colby by a half a length while boosting his seasonal earnings to $402,986.

The Captaintreacherous colt Prince Hal Hanover, who has amassed $818,912 in 2025 and $1,105,933 in his two seasons of racing, took the lead in front of the stands in his division, then powered home in 27 seconds into the brisk headwind to complete a 1:51 4/5 success, open lengths ahead. Todd McCarthy had the steer for trainer Dr. Ian Moore and the Prince Hal Hanover Stable.

The third winner in this group, the Papi Rob Hanover colt Beach Club Monty, seems to be in career form right about now, making every pole a winning one in a 1:52 4/5 triumph, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of a strong-closing Captain Luffy. Jack Pelling drove the 3-year-old for trainer-father Brett Pelling and the partnership of South Merrick Stables and Andrew Berg.

There were also two $30,000 divisions of the Liberty Bell stakes for sophomore trotting males. Both winners won easily, as befits a pair of 1-5 shots: Lefties Righties was the quicker in 1:54, the Greenshoe gelding triumphing for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Jeff Cullipher, and Pollack Racing LLC., while Dexter Dunn added a trotting stakes win to his aforementioned pacing triumph as the pilot of the Bar Hopping gelding Cheers Hanover, who came home in 27 4/5 to finish the mile in 1:55 for the partnership of Burke Racing Stable LLC. and Weaver Bruscemi LLC., James Simpson, and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby.

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A special tip of the gray and yellow cap should go out to Cheers Hanover's trainer, Ron Burke: the day before, Burke had surpassed his own single-season money-earning record as a trainer, ending that day with his barn having amassed $28.5 million - with 55 days of racing left in the year! Burke had established the old mark in 2014; not out of question is his one-year record of 1,156 wins set in 2023, as he had 988 going into Friday.

The action-packed Philly card also saw the first preliminary round of a series for $10,000 claimers put together by Racing Secretary Rob Pennington and his crew; there will be three prelim rounds at $8,000 a division leading up to a $12,500 Championship on November 30, and claiming is allowed. In fact, there were two horses claimed out of the first round, and both were winners: Rose Run Zeke (the fastest at 1:53 1/5) and Allegiance (1:55 3/5). Also winning their first prelims were Kootenay Santanna (1:54 2/5), Stretch The Line (1:54 1/5) and Olive And A Twist (1:54 4/5).

Meet leader Tim Tetrick drove the two last-named series winners, and he combined them with his stakes win and an overnight triumph to be top pilot on the day with four victories.

Racing at Philly returns at 12:40 p.m. (EST) on Sunday.

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