Jonathan Roberts rallied on closing night to win five harness racing dashes and edge Johnathan Ahle in the Rosecroft Drivers Standings. Roberts finished with 52 win in 238 starts while Ahle netted 50 wins in 249 starts, including the finale of the meet with Thor And Dr Jones for trainer Greg Trotto and co-owners, Jon
A winner of over $1.7 Millions dollars lifetime, Jimmy Freight (Sportswriter), made his Rosecroft debut a winning one, scoring in the $12,000 Open, in 1:52.3. Jonathan Roberts guided the winner for Let It Ride Stables and Jimmy Freight Stable, both of Boca Raton, Florida and Trainer Michael Hall. Roberts had schooled Jimmy Freight and qualified
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All victories are memorable, but one of the three triumphs in the $12,600 features at Harrah’s Philadelphia Friday afternoon may stand out a little bit more for one driver.
Michel Heijnen, a horseman from The Netherlands who usually drives only his own small stable of trotters (his previous catch-drive was four years ago), picked up the mount behind a three-year-old filly from trainer Luc Blais and owner Determination – Viva La Deo, a daughter of Somebeachsomewhere out of the $2.2M-winning Rocklamation, a $200,000 yearling. And this was his first-ever drive (in North America, anyway) behind a pacer!
But ignoring all that and any pressure from 3-5 favouritism, Heijnen placed Viva La Deo right behind Ideal In Miracles through fractions of :27.2, :57.4, and 1:25.2, then wheeled her out in the stretch and got the decision by the smallest possible margin in 1:54.2 for the memorable triumph.
A trio of $11,200 contests for developing horses opened a five-day racing week at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Wednesday (April 28).
In the first of the contests for pacing males, the gelded son of Mr Wiggles Nextmovebestmove remained undefeated in four starts, chopping down the well-regarded leader Rockin Rocko while lowering his lifetime best to 1:51.2. Montrell Teague drove the Clyde Francis trainee, improving by the race, for George Teague Jr. Inc. and David Collins.
In the other headliner section for sidewheelers, most bettors thought one of the McCarthy brothers would win–but they thought it would be Todd McCarthy behind 1-10 shot Shakespeare. However, it proved to be brother Andrew getting the victory with the Sweet Lou three-year-old colt Tapped Teen in a career best of 1:52.3, coming out of the pocket to wear down the big chalk for owner-trainer Aaron Lambert.