Mister Big, Artistic Fella sizzle in Franklin elims

Sunday afternoon at Harrah's Chester, Mister Big and Artistic Fella captured their respective $50,000 divisions of eliminations for the $500,000 Ben Franklin final, which will be contested Sunday, June 15. The first four finishers in each elimination earned spots in the rich finale.

In the first division, Joseph Muscara’s Mister Big lived up to his role as the 2-5 betting favorite as he paced his way into the record books with a powerful 1:48.1 all-age world record on a five-eighths mile oval.

Mister Big, a 5-year-old Grinfromeartoear stallion trained by Virgil Morgan Jr., was allowed to settle into fourth place on the rail through fractions of :26.1, :53.2 and 1:20.3, then gradually moved into contention on the final turn before drawing away in the stretch to score a 3 1/4-length tally with Brian Sears in the sulky.

Mr. Feelgood (Andy Miller) held for the place spot, Total Truth (Yannick Gingras) rallied for third, and Won The West (Greg Grismore) landed a berth in next Sunday’s final by virtue of a fourth-place finish.

Joseph Alborano's Artistic Fella, driven by Tim Tetrick, took the lead entering the second turn and unleashed a powerful second half in :53.2 en route to a 1:48.2 victory in the second Franklin elimination. The trainee of Steve Elliott widened his advantage through the stretch to win by 3 3/4 lengths as the 3-2 second choice in the wagering.

Special Report (Larry Stalbaum) was prominent throughout and finshed second. Tivoli Hanover (Tony Morgan) rallied mildly for show and Sharky Osborne (Eric Goodell) made next week’s final with a fourth-place finish.

On the undercard, a world record for older pacing geldings on a five-eighths mile oval was set by Martin Scharf’s Fake Denario N when he stopped the timer in 1:48.2 in the $40,000 Open Handicap. The 8-year-old Fake Left gelding is trained by Josh Green and was driven to his world record by Morgan. (edited from Harrah's Chester)

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