Chester, PA — Evergreen trotter JL Cruze made an early move to control the pace and went on to win the $11,000 fast-class trot on Thursday (June 6) at Harrah’s Philadelphia.

The 13-year-old Crazed gelding was on the move before Crazyland hit the quarter in :27.4, going to the lead and posting middle fractions of :56.4 and 1:24.4 with favorite Rivers challenging first-over. After JL Cruze shook off Rivers’ bid, he kept Crazyland a half length at bay to win in 1:54.

The victory was the 67th of JL Cruze’s career, and it was the 137th time he has hit the board in 230 career trips to the gate. Johnathan Ahle steered the earner of $1,945,106 for trainer Eric Ell and owners Ken Wood, Bill Dittmar Jr. and Stephen Iaquinta.

The $10,000 trotting sub-feature went to the Donato Hanover gelding College Tuition, who led from the first step to the last to stop the clock in 1:54.2. Russell Foster drove the winner of two straight for owner-trainer Eric Foster.

The day’s top race for pacers also carried the biggest purse of the card — $12,000 — and it was taken by Stay Hungry sophomore gelding De La Hoya Hanover, enjoying a drop from Pennsylvania Stallion Series opponents to record a 1:54.4 victory. Tyler Miller raced the horse on the lead and got a pair of :28.1 splits out of him in the back half to withstand first-up Avellino by a length for trainer Ron Coyne Jr. and the partnership of Ron Coyne Stables Inc., Blair Corbeil, Mike McAllister and Edward Pachuta.

Troy Beyer, David Miller, Marcus Miller, George Napolitano Jr. and Tim Tetrick all scored driving doubles; Crissy Crissman-Bier was the only trainer to win twice.

Developing distaff pacers will share the spotlight Friday (June 7) with high-priced pacing claimers on a card that features a $739.16 carryover into the Pick-5 (races 5-9). First post is 12:25 p.m. Racing continues on Sunday (June 9) at 12:40 with 3-year-old trotting fillies contesting Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and Pennsylvania Stallion Series events, with Elista Hanover going for her sixth straight win and her fourth consecutive stakes triumph. Free programs are available at www.phha.org.