by Mike Bozich, for Harrah’s Philadelphia

Chester, PA — Horsemen and women paid their respects to Brad Hanners at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday (Sept. 16) in a moment of silence before the races.

Hanners, a well known driver and trainer from Ohio, passed away earlier this week after a bout with cancer.

On a bittersweet afternoon, driver George Napolitano Jr. had six wins on the program, and ten total on the day (four wins at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Wednesday night).

The 2010 North American dashwinning champion, and the leading driver at both tracks this season, Napolitano won six of 11 races on Philly’s afternoon card to start the day, for five different trainers. Gil Garcia-Herrera, Philly’s top trainer and a frequent user of “George Nap’s” sulky services, had two wins with Napolitano.

Napolitano continues to lead the driver’s standings at Harrah’s Philadelphia by more than 70 wins over Tim Tetrick and Corey Callahan, who are in a virtual tie for second.

After winning race 11 George left Philly for the two-hour drive north to Pocono, where after missing the first race and not having a drive in another, he achieved his fourth win of the night at the mountain oval in the ninth race (all for different trainers, to boot), putting him at double digits, and who knew what could happen with five races to go? But alas, “GNap” could only manage a second and a third on the balance of the Pocono card (if you can associate the word “only” with a one-day sulky tally of 23-10-4-1-.546).

This marks the third straight month that Napolitano has won ten races in one day — July 26 (three Philly, seven Pocono), August 16 (seven Philly, three Pocono), and then yesterday, exactly one month later (six Philly, four Pocono).

Also, driver Brett Miller moved closer to a personal milestone. With his driving win in race seven, he is now two wins away from 7,000. He has nine drives on today’s program (Thursday, Sept. 17) at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

— PHHA/Pocono also contributed to this report