Chester, PA — Tymal Reign set most of the pace in the $14,500 trotting feature at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Thursday (Nov.8), but pocketsitting Ameliosi had inside room and from midstretch inched up to nip the winner in the final few feet. The final time was 1:55.3.

Ameliosi, a daughter of Explosive Matter trained by Jenny Melander for owner John Devito, took command on the first turn, hung favored Tymal Reign past the :27.3 quarter and was thereafter content to sit behind that one through the middle splits of :56.1 and 1:25.2. The winner kept on grinding just inside the pacesetter, and just did get by by the shortest of margins under the urging of Marcus Miller, on a day when quick last quarters were not to be found.

There were a pair of $14,000 co-features, one on each gait. On the trot, the finish may have been even closer than in the feature, as the Cantab Hall sophomore gelding American Steele set the pace, holding off closing favorite Dunsinane Hall by no more than a couple of inches. The win in 1:57.2 was a lifetime mark for American Steele, who was kept rolling to the wire by the track’s leading driver, George Napolitano Jr., for trainer Rob Harmon and the partnership of Harmon Racing Stable LLC and Harvey Eisman.

The pace was taken by Western Showgirl, who posted only her second career win, yet broke $50,000 in lifetime earnings, and won in 1:57.1. Owner/trainer Ray Barnes sent her on a first-over mission, opened a good-sized lead when the pacesetter gave way midturn, then maintained a safe 1-1/2 length margin to the wire with the Western Ideal mare.