Chester, PA – With late-developing youngsters coming to Harrah’s Philadelphia from every direction. On Wednesday (May 5) the southeast Pennsylvania track featured four $12,600 events, two on each gait, that could serve as stepping stones to nearby future glory. The meet’s leading driver, Tim Tetrick, guided a feature winner on each gait during a day which would see him win five races overall.

On the pacing side, where both headliners were limited to males, The Cookie Monster gobbled up favored pacesetter Rockin Rocko late to be along in 1:52.4 over what was then a “sloppy +2” surface. The son of American Ideal, unraced at two and three, has now won half his ten lifetime starts, with Tetrick driving and Scott Di Domenico doing the training for JFE Enterprise LLC.

The Cookie Monster won the first race of the day; the other pacing feature was the last event on the card, and the track had regained a good bit of its “speed.” The second pace was won by Bipbopnallie, one of the toughest horses at the Pennsylvania fairs last season, who held off heavy favorite Rolling With Sam in 1:51.2 to lower his mark almost three seconds. Andrew McCarthy kept the Artspeak gelding going right to Victory Lane for trainer Steve LeBlanc and the ownership of LeBlanc Racing Inc., Count De Money Stable, and William Lutz.

Turning to the trot: the Muscle Mass sophomore colt Twin B Showtime was brought to town sharp by trainer Paula Wellwood, despite not having raced in 37 days. The improving youngster raised his career record to 4-for-6 by coming wide in the stretch for Tetrick and picking up the lead horses in a lifetime best 1:56.1 when the track was “sloppy.” Dreamville Stable shares ownership of the three-year-old with Brian Smith.

The surface was upgraded to “good +1” just before the fast Creatine gelding Take All Comers won his seasonal bow in 1:55.4 for driver David Miller (himself a three-time Wednesday winner) and trainer Jim Campbell. The sophomore took a mark of 1:52.3 at Lexington last year, and seems to be pointed towards the territory again for the Runthetable Stables.

“Trottin’ Thursday” tradition at Harrah’s Philadelphia will again bring some of the area’s finest diamond gaiters to the oval: top purse is a $14,400 contest for precocious youngsters, while there will be a pair of $13,000 contests for their fast-class older counterparts. Program pages will be available at https://www.phha.org/harrahspps.html.