Chester, PA — On Sunday (Dec. 31), Harrah’s Philadelphia held a 14-race twilight card to close out its 2023 racing season.

The feature was the $15,000 championship for the American Harness Drivers Club, and Lionhead, plagued by bad early luck in recent outings, stayed out of trouble for driver Newton “Yogi” Sheridan and defeated Trump This by 1-1/2 lengths to equal his 1:57.4 lifetime mark. Dawn Anderson trains the Uncle Peter gelding for owner Terry Morgan.

The Muscle Mass gelding Warrior Way was sharp in a two-move 2:00.3 victory in the $10,000 AHDC consolation. Neil Glasser guided the Joseph Eisenhower Sr. trainee for Henry Ottinger.

Jack Pelling topped all drivers on closing day with six victories, putting lifetime marks on three of those charges.

The year’s leading horsemen’s honors went to one new name (locally at least) and a couple of familiar ones.

On the training side, Brett Pelling picked up his first local UTR title, winning at almost a 37 percent clip and landing on a final UTR of .497. In the win column, Jeff Cullipher’s barn finished the meet hot, but Ron Burke’s stable had built enough of a lead to secure the title with 83 wins to Cullipher’s 81. This was Burke’s 10th time sending out the most winners in the 18-year history of the riverside oval.

Another 10-time Philly winner is Tim Tetrick, who had a UDR of .395 in claiming his second straight crown in this category. Tetrick also won the dash-winning derby with 242 visits to Victory Lane, his ninth dash crown breaking a tie for the most local driving win titles with George Napolitano Jr. Only Tetrick and Napolitano have won the dash championship since Cat Manzi won the inaugural title in 2006.

Racing in eastern Pennsylvania thus comes to a halt – but just for a short time. The 2024 opening of Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania is penciled in for Feb. 19, while Harrah’s Philly is slotted to be back in action after its traditional winter break on April 12.