from harness publicists across North America

Thursday’s (June 26) edition of Racing Roundup features results stories from Northfield Park, Harrah’s Philadelphia and Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

Longshots spark big returns on Thursday at Northfield Park

Northfield, OH — Longshot players were rejoicing in the 12th race at Northfield Park on Thursday (June 26), when Milliondollarflirt successfully kicked from the back to win at odds of 67-1.

JJ Zamaiko photo

Milliondollarflirt and David Lake won at odds of 67-1.

David Lake owns, trains and drove the 6-year-old. It was the first win this year in 16 starts and represents Milliondollarflirt’s eighth lifetime score. Milliondollarflirt (67-1) was followed across the wire by Corno CC (5-1) and Cin Cardle (80-1). Milliondollarflirt returned $137.40 to win, the 7-3 exacta paid $913.60 and the 7-3-6 trifecta returned a whopping $14,591.00.

The party continued in race 15 when Dawn Of New Money barreled up the lane to reach the wire first at odds of 54-1. Jason Merriman drove for owner/trainer Steve Novak. Dawn Of New Money paid $111.40 to win and led off the $427.60 exacta and $2,105.20 trifecta.

Earlier on the night, Up Front Kellie Jo captured the $12,000 Fillies and Mares Open Pace in the tenth race. She is trained by Ron Steck for owners Ed Mullinax and Mark Ford. Keith Kash Jr. was the winning driver.

Up Front Kellie Jo (Bettor’s Delight-Life’s Highway) started from post six. Kash fired her off the gate, secured the lead and was never headed. She led her competition through fractions of :27, :56, 1:24.4 and 1:54. She bested her competition by a head.

Completing the race were Stacked Deck, Sweetheart Dance, Ruler’s Best, The Sweet Dion, African Violet, Sparkling Yankee, Ride A Cowboy and So Long My Love.

Thursday’s win was the ninth victory this year and 47th career score for Up Front Kellie Jo. It bolstered her lifetime earnings to $876,947. She was the race favorite and returned $6.80 to win.

— Ayers Ratliff

Harrah’s Philadelphia
After a heartbreaking loss last week to Maryland state champion Tom’s Titan, Somewhere Fancy took no prisoners in Thursday’s featured event at Harrah’s Philadelphia, a pace for non-winners of five races or $50,000 lifetime. Starting from post six, the son of Somebeachsomewhere powered right to the front and made every call a winning one. He held off a minor bid from race favorite Mojito Hanover at three-quarters and went on to win under wraps in a time of 1:51. The 3-year-old is owned by John Mehlenbacher, trained by Linda Toscano and was driven by Tim Tetrick. Pocket-sitter Ooh Bad Boy finished second, while Invictus Hanover was third. Tim Tetrick, David Miller and Victor Kirby had three driving wins on the card. With the driving win on Always A Flyin in race four, Marcus Miller is only one win shy of 2,000 in his career.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway
High Blue continued his breakout season at Saratoga Casino and Raceway on Thursday night. The Dan Hennessey-trained 4-year-old made his local debut in April and has yet to finish worse than third. On Thursday night, High Blue (Majestic Son) moved aggressively to the lead before being met with the challenge of the race’s even money favorite, Powerful Valor (Austin Siegelman), at the half-mile pole. These two dueled for a half-mile while drawing away from their competition. High Blue and driver Wally Hennessey held on to win in 1:58 in the $6,500 trotting race. Owned by Paul and Patricia O’Neil, High Blue has now won four of eight tries since coming to town after pulling off the mild upset on Thursday night and has been worse than second only once. Powerful Valor finished a strong second while longshot Montana Skies (Brian Cross) finished a distant third.