CHESTER, PA – The veteran Crazed gelding Crazy About Pat pushed his lifetime earnings to $833,750 with a 1:54.2 victory in the $18,000 featured trot at Harrah's Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon.
Eric Carlson settled in second early with the winner behind fast-starting Ameliosi, then made a move topward by the 27.4 half. Middle splits of 57 and 1:25.2 were hung up, and when no outer tier action materialized, Ameliosi proved to be the main competition, but Crazy About Pat kept him at bay by a solid 2¼ lengths.
Gilbert Garcia-Herrera is the owner/trainer of Crazy About Pat. It may surprise some non-Mid-Atlantic fans to learn that Garcia-Herrera is within the top six trainers at Yonkers, Pocono, and Philadelphia, where he sits second in the table to Ron Burke. He is also sixth in North America, with Crazy About Pat the 200th winner from the barn this year.
There were a pair of $14,500 trotting co-features on the card, with Carlson also victorious in one of them, handling the Cam's Rocket sophomore gelding What That Is in a 1:56.1 triumph. One of Maryland's top colts the last couple years, What That Is swung wide from third-over and ran down a game Le Tissier, who had taken over in the stretch after going first-over, by three parts of a length for trainer Kerry Welty and owner Brian Emerson.
In the other co-feature, 2017 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion Fashionwoodchopper got the first win of his sophomore campaign, going to the lead near the quarter for driver David Miller and then holding off potential pocket rocket Tymal Reign by ¾ of a length to win in 1:55. Despite the paucity of seasonal successes, the Donato Hall colt has still banked $106,370 this year and $363,259 lifetime for trainer Jim Campbell and Fashion Farms LLC.
FINISHING LINES – Because of the galloping activity in Kentucky associated with the two-day Breeders Cup championships, post time at Harrah's Philadelphia on Friday will be 2:05 p.m.
From the PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia