Chester, PA — The first qualifying races of the 2025 season at Harrah’s Philadelphia were held on Friday morning (April 4), over a track rated good.
The first race of the year saw the Captaintreacherous colt Captain Fear come home in :56 to hold off Meltdown Monte by a nose in 1:55.4 for driver Mark Herschberger and trainer Tom Fanning.
That time looked like it might stand up as the standard for the day over the off going, but later the “season’s record” was lowered a tick by the Betting Line gelding Bettor Not Talk, who paced in 1:49.1 here last year and on Friday came identical back halves of :28 for trainer Scott DiDomenico and driver Tim Tetrick, four-time defending dash-winning champion who had a quadruple during the morning session.
Father/trainer Chris Ryder and son/driver Patrick combined on a trio of victories. Included in this triple were a pair of 3-year-olds: the Bettor’s Wish filly Bytheliteofthemoon, a stakes winner in Kentucky at two and here coming home in :56.2 from the two-hole to win in 1:56.3, and Stargaze, a daughter of Papi Rob Hanover who paced in 1:57.3 from the pocket in her first charted line.
The third winner for Team Ryder was T H Tyson, a Captain Crunch gelding who was a check-getter in the 2023 Governor’s Cup final but then saw his 3-year-old action limited to a pair of starts. T H Tyson looked like he was trying to make up for lost time, moving to the lead before the half and then motoring home in :27.3 to complete a 1:57.1 mile in his first racetrack appearance in exactly 11 months.
The Stay Hungry mare Hers Hungry, a late-bloomer who was a multiple winner in the Kentucky program last year at four, overcame a first-over journey to win in 1:56.4 for driver Jeff Dauplaise and trainer Travis Kolaczynski.
There will be another set of Philly qualifiers on the track’s regular “Q” day of Tuesday, with declarations by noon Monday. This Tuesday (April 8) will also be the date of the first pari-mutuel draw of the season at the southeast Pennsylvania oval (box closes at 9 a.m.), with the first purse card to be held on Friday (April 11) at 6:30 p.m.
After opening night, Harrah’s will race a schedule of Thursday and Friday at 12:25 p.m. and Sunday at 12:40 p.m., with two exceptions: on Easter Sunday (April 20), when the track will be dark, and on Kentucky Derby Saturday (May 3), when an extra card starting at noon will be added.
Among the highlights on the 2025 local season will be “Super Sunday,” (May 25), when Philly will host its traditional three $100,000 Invitationals, along with a preliminary of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Stallion Series for 3-year-old pacing colts, and Friday (Sept. 5), which will see $1.4 million in purses for top freshmen racing in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championships.