Chester, PA – The second of the annual two weeks of Liberty Bell stakes series racing at Harrah’s Philadelphia began on Thursday (Nov. 5) with freshmen as the focus: pacing fillies went for $34,500 in each of two sections while trotters were gathered for one $45,600 contest.
Both of the pacing stakes were won by daughters of Captaintreacherous; the faster was the only favorite to win a Philly feature all day, Loyal To The End (dam Lifetime Trust), who won in 1:53. Driver Andrew McCarthy waited patiently with the winner until late in the backstretch, then got her in high gear, and Loyal To The End stayed true to the end with a :55.3 back half to defeat 50-1 shot Kinda Girl U Like. The Noel Daley trainee, owned by Let It Ride Stables, Jesmeral Stable, and Hutchison Harness, has recorded four wins in seven starts, and each win has come in a different type of Keystone stakes: a Stallion Series, a PA All-Stars event, a Sire Stakes, and now a win in the Liberty Bell series.
Lindy Believer (dam Believe Its Lindy) got to sit in the two-hole for much of the other pacing division, coming home in :55.1 – :27.2 to successfully rally from the pocket to beat out first-over JK Alwaysbpositive by three-quarters of a length in 1:53.3. Jason Bartlett drove the winner, now perfect in her last five starts after sweeping through the Massachusetts stakes series, for trainer Petter Engblom and the combine of Engblom Farm, R A W Equine, Evans Nation, and Hickory Hollow Stables.
Another Captain – the hot stallion Captain Corey – was the father of the trotting winner in the Liberty Bell stakes action. Andersson Hanover (dam Angel Eyes Hanover) came out of the two-hole late on the far turn, then outfooted leader Sevenoops Hanover home by a quarter-length in 1:56.1. The winner took her fourth victory in succession for driver Patrick Ryder, trainer-father Chris Ryder, and owner John McKeon Jr.
The featured overnight trot on the card was a $14,000 contest for horses looking to step up the class ladder, and it was won in wire-to-wire fashion by Herecomesdajudge, a son of Muscle Hill who posted a 1:53.2 win. The winner was aided by some confusion and interference nearing headstretch, but he was in control almost all the way for driver Tyler Miller, trainer-mother Julie Miller, and the partnership of Andy Miller Stable, T L P Stable, Rick Huffman, and Dumain Haven Farm.
Trainer-driver Åke Svanstedt, who last year set the all-time Philly seasonal record for UTR at .523, had a couple of impressive overnight winners. Hustle Rain S, a son of Raja Mirchi, went in 1:52.3 in recording his first North American victory for TLH Racing, with identical :27.2 back splits marking him as a national-caliber prospect, while the Chapter Seven-Fatima Blush freshman gelding Book It Armitage broke his maiden in style, stopping the timer in 1:53.4 (only three ticks off the track mark) with :56.1 – :28 back speed for Svanstedt, Little E LLC, Wolfgang A Stable, and Kiwi Stables.
Svanstedt led both sides of the day’s horsepersons’ stats with three wins; doubling drivers included Patrick Ryder and Tim Tetrick, the latter ending his Philly day tied for the top with Simon Allard at 119 wins. The trainers’ race is just as contested, with both Scott DiDomenico and Dean Eckley harnessing a Thursday winner to stay deadlocked at 44 for the campaign.
Friday’s 12:25 p.m. (EST) card will feature a $45,000 Liberty Bell stake for 3-year-old trotting fillies, with PaSS Champion Little Road heading the field.
Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.