Chester, PA — Covered Bridge was assigned the outside post in the field of seven in Friday afternoon’s (Sept. 9) $16,200 featured pace at Harrah’s Philadelphia, coming off of three victories out of town. Dismissed at 7-1, Covered Bridge overcame his outside post and edged Pyro by a nose in 1:49.2.

Driver Simon Allard and trainer Ron Burke have been a hot pairing in eastern Pennsylvania lately, and Allard had the Burke trainee firing out early to reach the top. Covered Bridge yielded near the :26.2 quarter to Pyro, who set middle fractions of :54.4 and 1:21.3 unchallenged with second choice Vettel N choosing an inside route. Through the stretch, Covered Bridge charged up the inside and just took the measure of Pyro, while Vettel N hunted fruitlessly for a seam which didn’t develop until too late.

Covered Bridge is an American Ideal gelding who has won $114,995 this year and $541,145 lifetime. He is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby, and Mortgage Boys Stable.

Lyons Steel also broke the 1:50 barrier at the riverside oval on Friday with a 1:49.2 victory, as did 1:49.4 winners Dealer’s Table and Pat McGarry A.

The American Harness Drivers Club for amateur horsemen held a $15,000 final after its summer-long pacing series at Philly. Even-money favorite Warrawee Total came uncovered against pacesetter Needless To Say, and Warrawee Total proved the strongest late for driver Tony Beltrami, with Big Bad Bill closing for second, three-quarters of a length back of Warrawee Total’s 1:54 mile, while Needless To Say faded to third. Beltrami thus earned bragging rights in the AHDC with a gelded son of American Ideal trained by Eddie Sager and owned by the trainer’s The Right Move Racing LLC.

Tim Tetrick continued his iron grip on the local driving standings, adding four more winners on the Friday card.

With Pocono closed this weekend, Harrah’s Philly added $30,000 claimers to its menu on Sunday (Sept. 11), and they will square off in the day’s fourth and 12th races. Sunday’s action starts at 12:40 p.m.; program pages are available at the PHHA website.