Chester, PA – The Uncle Peter gelding My Man Peter couldn’t quite catch pacesetter Little Expensive in last Sunday’s $16,000 fast-class trot at Harrah’s Philadelphia; this week (Dec. 7) My Man Peter went first-over with Little Expensive on his back, but still came up with the power to turn in a 1:53.2 victory.
George Napolitano Jr. had no hesitation sending the favored My Man Peter up raw from fifth to pressure leader Resolve To Win, who made the lead after a :27.3 quarter and got a slight breather to a :56.4 half. But My Man Peter was relentless in his pursuit, reaching the lead not much after a 1:25.2 three-quarters, then finishing out the mile strongly (own last half :55.3), with Little Expensive second-best this day, 2-1/4 lengths behind the winner of four of his last six, who is trained by Per Engblom for Morrison Racing Stables.
Best purse for pacers offered on the weekending card was $13,500, for up-and-coming younger males. It was won by the Papi Rob Hanover sophomore gelding War No More, who stepped up in class and took a new lifetime mark of 1:53 while making it two in a row. War No More pushed pacesetting Shining Moment most of a :26.4 quarter, then sat the golden journey as favored RJs Red Devil came raw near the :56 half and bedeviled the leader to and past the 1:24.2 three-quarters.
This pair tired after their efforts; Anthony Napolitano got War No More out of the pocket into the stretch, and just in time, as Bettor Safe (and Anthony’s brother George) was winging late, but War No More crossed the wire a half length ahead. Deborah Daguet trains the winner for Todd’s Auto.
Fast-class pacers staged quite a battle in a $13,000 contest. Favored Belmont Royale N was parked to a :27.1 quarter to get around Mad Max Hanover; I Did It Myway, sitting third, thought about quarter-moving but stayed put. He then advanced to the pocket as Mad Max Hanover pulled from the two-hole and challenged to a :56 half and a 1:24 three-quarters.
In the stretch it came down to the pacesetter and pocketsitter, and I Did It Myway, a son of Captaintreacherous, had the most along the inside, catching the favored leader by a neck in 1:52.1. Anthony Napolitano also got the winning steer behind this winner of $1,430,650 (and victorious lifetime in over a third of his starts, 37 for 107) for trainer Travis Alexander and the combine of David Hamm, EVM Racing LLC, and Glenn Phillips.
The track’s 1-2 winningest drivers in 2025, Tim Tetrick and George Napolitano Jr, won at least three races on each of the three cards this week; they shared Thursday’s and Sunday’s sulky honors, but Tetrick had five on Friday to take the week’s crown. Trainer Enrico Robinson also had a Sunday triple.
Racing resumes at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Thursday at 12:25; the usual fall schedule of Thursday and Friday at 12:25 and Sunday at 12:40 will hold this week, and then the live pattern will alter for the holidays in the last two weeks of the 2025 season. Free Philly program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.