Chester, PA — Despite persistent rainy conditions and a sloppy oval on Friday afternoon (Nov. 11) at Harrah’s Philadelphia, a great many favorites got home first, most working on the engine, including Trendy Teen in the $15,300 featured pace.

An altered sophomore son of Always B Miki, Trendy Teen (George Napolitano Jr.) was sent to the lead before a :27.1 quarter, then got a big breather to a :57.2 half in the off going. The speed sharpened considerably to 1:25.2 by the three-quarters, at which point he had a two length lead, and he carried that advantage to the wire in the :27.2 last quarter which completed the 1:52.4 mile, with Code Cracker (Simon Allard) closest at the finish.

Trendy Teen was purchased by Brian Gooden in July and went to the barn of Per Engblom, Philly’s leading driver, and since the move he has posted six wins and five seconds, good for $69,275 in that period. Gooden partnered with Michael Morrison on the horse two starts back, and the horse now races under the banner of Morrison Racing Stables.

There were a pair of $11.200 races for fast-class pacers, with the male division going to South Beach Star (Jack Pelling), another favorite who used front-end tactics to win in 1:52.1. The Somebeachsomewhere gelding triumphed for Team Pelling – driver Jack and trainer/father Brett, who combined for three winners on the card – and All Star Racing Inc. The fast-class female event also went to a favored frontstepper and another offspring of Somebeachsomewhere, Annabelle Hanover, who tripped the timer in 1:52.4 for driver George Napolitano Jr. and trainer Jeff Cullipher, the latter co-owner with Pollack Racing LLC.

For Sunday’s 12:40 p.m. card, following a formula that seems to succeed in its first week of usage, Harrah’s Philly will stack the first seven races with the range of claiming paces offered for males. The very first race will be the card’s highlight, a $13,000 handicap which will see Machaholic try the highest local level after winning in 1:50.4 in his latest effort. Program pages for all Philly cards are or will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.