by James Witherite, for Harrah’s Philadelphia

Chester, PA — Marion Marauder ($6.40), 2016 Trotting Triple Crown champion, made his 5-year-old debut a winning one in his $30,000 Great Northeast Series event on Sunday afternoon (May 20) at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

World Wide Racing photo

Marion Marauder wins his 2018 debut at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.

After floating from the outside post seven and landing in fourth behind a hotly contested pace, Marion Marauder angled out to chase a brushing Crazy Wow (David Miller) en route to a :54.1 half-mile before being left uncovered up the far side. The son of Muscle Hill sustained his gradual ascent through a :28.1 third quarter and put away Crazy Wow with ease a quarter from home before being driven out by Scott Zeron to keep the second-over Meladys Monet (Brett Miller) 1-1/2 lengths at bay in 1:52.1. Opulent Yankee (Andy Miller) overcame mid-race traffic trouble to save third, another 1-1/4 lengths back

Paula Wellwood trains 15-time winner Marion Marauder for owners Marion Wellwood and Devin Keeling

In the first $30,000 Great Northeast event for pacing mares, Blue Moon Stride ($5.40) parried a strong first-over challenge from Darlinonthebeach to capture the first $30,000 Great Northeast split for pacing mares in 1:49.4. Corey Callahan sent the 5-year-old daughter of Rocknroll Hanover to the fore immediately as the gates sprung and the pair controlled strong early fractions of :26.2 and :54.4 before millionaire Darlinonthebeach (David Miller) emerged from fourth up the far side. Despite being subject to intensifying pressure off the far turn, Blue Moon Stride held her ground stoutly in the final sixteenth and edged away to defeat Darlinonthebeach by a length. Divas Image (Tim Tetrick) followed second-over cover into a third-place finish.

Mark Harder trains 16-time winner Blue Moon Stride, now a career millionaire, for Emilio and Maria Rosati.

In the other distaff pacing division, Agent Q ($4.80) earned a second win in as many starts as a 4-year-old, once again eclipsing Pure Country, but this time doing so after advancing without cover from midfield. David Miller put the daughter of Western Terror in motion from fourth after Pure Country (Mark MacDonald) clicked off a :55.1 half mile. The two dueled on the far turn before Agent Q asserted at head-stretch and edged away to prevail by a length in 1:50.3. Twinkle (Andy McCarthy) rose to reach second narrowly over Pure Country.

Chris Oakes trains 15-time winner Agent Q for Crawford Farms LLC, Rochetti Cassar Racing, and R. K. Muscara.