Chester, PA — After a third-place finish in last year’s Breeders Crown final and a second-place finish behind divisional champ Miki And Minnie in the Three Diamonds final at 2, Rodeo Drive Deo appears to have lost little of her speed in the transition from freshman to sophomore, winning Friday’s (May 30) $14,000 distaff pacing feature at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
David Miller was content to sit fourth with Rodeo Drive Deo as Manhattan Project carried the field past a :27.3 quarter and a :56.3 half, but the Captaintreacherous filly was soon on the move off the second turn. Before the final turn arrived, Rodeo Drive Deo had reached the lead via an individual :26.4 quarter, hitting three-quarters in 1:24.2 before then tacking on a :27.1 final quarter to leave Royally Hot, who had followed her cover, 2-1/2 lengths behind at the end of a 1:51.4 mile.
Ron Burke trains Rodeo Drive Deo for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Beasty LLC and J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby.
Beckoning Yankee, a sophomore daughter of Tall Dark Stranger who won her division’s Weiss Series consolation at Pocono, added Lasix for the $12,000 co-feature and was a 3-1/2-length winner in a career best 1:52.4. A flurry of front-end activity found Beckoning Yankee going to the lead just before the half, but she had no further difficulty the rest of the way in winning for driver David Miller (giving him a sweep of the features), trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman, and the partnership of Pinske Stables, Yankeeland Partners and Lawrence Means.
Trainer Gregory Bowden, a 41-year-old from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, got the first training win of his young career when The Future Is Here fanned wide at the top of the stretch and circled the field for a last-to-first, 1:53.1 win under the guidance of Patrick Ryder.
Tim Tetrick led all drivers with four wins on the card.
The Philly racing week ends with a 12:40 p.m. card on Sunday (June 1), with features for developing horses on both gaits along with high-level paces for both the fast-class crew and the top claimers on the grounds; there will also be a $987.33 carryover into the Pick-5, which spans races 5-9. Free program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.