by Mike Bozich, for Harrah’s Philadelphia

Chester, PA — The 2015 older male trotter of the year JL Cruze was in action Thursday afternoon (May 19) at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The gelded son of Crazed was matched up against five other combatants in a winner’s over $25,000 lifetime trot going for a purse of $25,000.

The race became a bit anti-climactic when top contender Gural Hanover (Yannick Gingras) went off stride at the quarter pole. He was rushing up to challenge JL Cruze (John Campbell) for the lead when he made the miscue.

JL Cruze went down the road for the easy win, setting fractions of :27.3, :57 and 1:25.2. The final time was 1:53. Gilbert Garcia-Herrera’s Escuela (George Napolitano Jr.) drove out of third at the three-quarter mark, but settled for second. The margin of victory for JL Cruze ($3.60) was nearly two lengths.

He is owned by Ken Wood, Bill Dittmar Jr. and Steve Iaquinta.