Philly stakes action swept by Miller on the pace, Tetrick on the trot
Chester, PA – A pair of Hall of Fame drivers divided up the Liberty Bell stakes series action for three-year-old males on Wednesday(Oct. 14)afternoon at Harrah’s Philadelphia. David Miller took both $31,300 sections of the pacing event, while Tim Tetrick won in both $37,300 trotting sections. Both of them raced their charges just off the pace, and both of them defeated the race favorite late.
Miller started things off by guiding the Sweet Lou gelding Tru Lou to a 1:49.1 mark. The sophomore was able to race in the pocket behind pacesetting Manticore, certainly a better journey than he had having to pace his middle half in :52.3 to get the lead before tiring at Lexington in his last start. He went inside the leader in the lane, then held off the late burst of heavy favorite Allywag Hanover, coming from second-over, by a neck, with Manticore another length back in third. Ron Burke trains the winner for Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Knox Services Inc., and Slaughter Racing Stable LLC.
In the other pacing section, Miller won with another Sweet Lou gelding, Tito Rocks, who has now taken two straight after a 1:50.3 victory. Tito Rocks raced hard to get the early lead, yielded to the prohibitive chalk Patriot Nation to sit in the golden seat, then worked up the inside to pass the favorite by three-quarters of a length at the finish. Robert Cleary trains the winner, who went over $100,000 in career earnings with the victory, for Royal Wire Products Inc.
On the trotting side, Tetrick’s first stakes visit to Victory Lane came behind the Explosive Matter colt Overserved in a career best 1:53.1. Favored Paulie Walnuts set the pace in this race, with Town Victor angling out from the pocket for the drive and Overserved, who had tucked third, fanning out even wider. Overserved proved to have the most late, going by to win by 1¼ lengths, with Town Victor photoing Paulie Walnuts for the deuce. The winner, who won the Pennsylvania Stallion Series Championship last month, also reached six figures in his career bankroll with his success for trainer George Ducharme and the partnership of William Donovan, Stephen Michaels, Joe Sbrocco, and Jim Winske.
The other section yielded a classic “pocketsitter passes pacesetter late” scenario, as Tetrick raced into the early pocket with the Andover Hall gelding Loyal Fox Hanover after the former occupant of that spot made a break, waited behind pacesetting chalk Shinkansen, then came out entering the stretch and trotted past for a three-quarter length victory. Ron Coyne Jr. now has a stakes win with the youngster he has had for only three starts for the ownership of Vogel & Wags Nags LLC, Team Rice Racing LLC, and Adelphia Bloodstock Inc.
