A pair of $75,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds kicks off the added-money season on June 1. The track’s annual Governor’s Cup Racing festival weekend is slated for July 27-28.

Three added-money events for fillies and mares will be held on Friday, July 27, including a pair of turf stakes in the $100,000 Jennie Wade and the $100,000 Red Carpet. Saturday’s program features the Governor’s Cup, along with the first edition of the $175,000 Mountainview Handicap at a mile and one-eighth over the dirt, and the $100,000 East Hanover going a mile and one-half on the grass.

Stakes races will continue through the summer and early fall and conclude on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Penn National has also announced that the track’s richest main track race will headline that pre-holiday program and has been renamed the $200,000 Fabulous Strike Handicap. The race was called the Six Bits when Ravalo won its inaugural running last year.

“Fabulous Strike was the most popular locally grown stakes star in track history,” said VP of Racing Mark Loewe, “and he went on to become a multiple Grade I stakes winner of more than $1 million. He won the first and last races of his career at home, along with stakes races, and we are honored to name the race after a horse generally regarded as one of America’s fastest sprinters in recent years.”

In order to qualify for the final, all participants must run in both previous legs, the second set to be held on Feb. 20 at 1 1/8 miles, and must accrue enough points — 1st place is worth 5 points; 2nd, 4 points; 3rd, 3 points; 4th, 2 points; and 5th, 1 point. Clearly, the point system is weighted to merit consistency, and the final, after its qualifiers have run three races in six weeks, rewards durability.

Notably, all 27 entrants in Wednesday’s races run for a claiming price of $2,500, which could generate substantial interest at the claim box with the added incentive of a lucrative $25,000 purse just six weeks down the road. Compared to the final, the total purses for Wednesday’s three qualifying races are $4,300 each.

According to Portland Meadows track announcer Jason Beem, “The 27 entrants for this series, compared to 19 in last autumn’s Sprint Claiming Series, indicates the rising popularity of the concept. It’s something owners and trainers are excited about and so is track management.”

In turn, fans and handicappers can look forward to a rise in handle due to the series’s competitive and deep races.

Wednesday’s three series races, each with nine scheduled runners, go as the 7th, 8th, and 9th races on the 10-race card. The 7th race, scheduled for 11:46 p.m. Eastern, starts another of the track’s popular 14 percent takeout pick fours and is headed by the well-known 13-year-old West Seattle Boy, who has recorded 5 of his 26 lifetime wins at Portland.

The 8th race marks the return of the 9-year-old Castle Pines, who has visited the Portland winner’s circle a remarkable 15 times. Favoritism in Wednesday’s series finale will likely go to Meshuguna, one of the event’s five 4-year-olds.

For the first half-mile of the race over 1 1/16 miles, Bejarano had Holladay Road 10 to 11 lengths behind pacesetters Bluegrass Reward and Macho Dorado, who set a torrid pace of 22.22 and 44.97 seconds.

“They tried to kill each other,” Bejarano said. “I knew there would be plenty of speed in the race.”

There was so much speed that Bejarano guided Holladay Road from last in the field of six to win the Crystal Water for California-breds. Winning his first stakes, Holladay Road prevailed by 2 1/2 lengths over Macho Dorado, who ran well considering the quick pace. Trained by Julio Canani for Gary and Wendy Broad, Holladay Road ($6.60) was timed in 1:41.25.

Bejarano gave Holladay Road an ideal ride. On the backstretch, the jockey moved his mount closer to the leaders on the rail and Holladay Road trailed by 2 1/2 lengths on the turn.

“From the half-mile, they were spread out and I moved on the rail,” Bejarano said. “I got into position and then gave my horse a little air.”

The breather worked. Holladay Road was second to Macho Dorado in early stretch and took the lead passing the eighth pole. Spud Spivens finished third, followed by 9-5 favorite Thirtyfirststreet, Legal Separation, and Bluegrass Rewards.

Holladay Road, a 7-year-old gelding by Street Cry, has won 6 of 13 starts and $231,820. The Crystal Water Stakes was his second stakes race, preceded by a third in the California Cup Classic here on turf last October.

It’s Me Mom wasted little time sprinting to a commanding advantage from her inside post under regular rider Willie Martinez and was never seriously threatened thereafter. A 4-year-old daughter of Put It Back, It’s Me Mom set fractions of 22.25 seconds, and 44.41 for the opening quarter and half-mile before completing six furlongs in 1:08.85. Her final time was just .73 of a second off the track record set by Big Drama one year ago.

Honey Chile, who chased It’s Me Mom from start to finish, proved no match but outlasted Indulgence by a nose for second. Musical Romance was never a factor after breaking a bit awkwardly under jockey Juan Leyva and dropping well back. She rallied mildly to finish fourth in her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint nearly three months earlier.

“He said she popped up in the air when the gate opened, so he just sat on her and made a late run with her,” said Musical Romance’s trainer, Bill Kaplan. “He did the right thing, because when you give up five or six lengths early you don’t want to go chasing. We’ve got a long year ahead until the next Breeders Cup.”

About a half-hour after the race Kaplan revealed that Musical Romance had grabbed a quarter in her left front and had half the shoe on that foot ripped off.

Pomeroys Pistol, the 9-5 favorite, finished a well-beaten and disappointing fifth.

It’s Me Mom, who finished a well-beaten fourth in the Grade 3 Old Hat last January in her only other local appearance, has now won 6 of her last 7 starts, including five stakes. She paid $6.80. Her final time was .64 of a second faster than Soaring Stocks covered the same distance winning the Sunshine Millions Sprint later on the card.

“She just grew up and matured and really took to dirt since we brought her here last year,” said Lynne Scace, who trains It’s Me Mom for owners Jean and Thomas Bosch. “We have nothing picked out for her at the moment. We’ll just take her back to Tampa and start looking around now.”

Assigned post position No. 2, she was away fourth as Delightful Diva (Pat Berry) took over from 2-1 choice Bling (George Brennan) right at the :27.1 opening quarter-mile.

Before a :57.1 half, Oceans Motion vacated the cones, going after a “Diva” who offered minimal resistance. Oceans Motion scampered to an open lead before the 1:25 three-quarters, taking a seven-length advantage into the lane.

She obviously had more than enough margin to play with, prevailing by three lengths in 1:55.1. Arctic Fire N (James Rattray) closed for second in a successful North American debut, with a trapped-in Bling, Pancleefandarpels (Eric Goodell) and Breakheart Pass (Jason Bartlett) completing the cashers.

For Oceans Motion, a five-year-old daughter of Camotion owned by Robert Lovett and trained by Chuck Connor Jr., she returned $11.60 (fourth choice) for her first win in a pair of seasonal starts. The exacta paid $125.50, with the triple returning $334.50.

Friday night’s co-featured $33,000 Open Trot saw Son Of Nordic, driven by Goodell, finish what he started.

In play at the outset from post No. 7, Son Of Nordic worked around IPO Blue Chip (Brent Holland), grabbing the lead right around a :28-second opening quarter-mile. From there, he found a :58.1 intermission as Four Starz Credit (Brennan) came for a visit.

Son Of Nordic, though, had some separation from the stopping pocket-sitter and first-over pursuer in and out of the 1:26.2 three-quarters. He owned a two and a half length lead turning for home, then won by a comfy length and a half in 1:56.3. A locally-debuting Equity (Bartlett)–as the 8-5 favourite–rallied for second, with Four Starz Credit, Definitely Mamie (Larry Stalbaum) and Play Fair (Pat Lachance) grabbing the remainder.

For Son Of Nordic, a seven-year-old Keystone Nordic gelding trained by Doug Noland for Lrl Racing, he returned $13 (third choice) for his first win in two ’12 tries. The exacta paid $50.50, the triple returned $220 and the superfecta paid $593.

(Yonkers Raceway)

With an eighth-mile to go in the 6 1/2-furlong Polytrack race, the front-runners were backing up while three horses were coming on to take command: Grand Daddy, Tend, and Matthewsburg. That’s the way they finished, with Grand Daddy, widest of all, having a neck margin on Tend at the wire, with Matthewsburg, the 5-2 favorite, another neck back in a field of 12 older horses.

Grand Daddy, a 6-year-old chestnut horse by Johannesburg, is trained by Tommy Drury for the Pattons Creek Farm. He returned $19.60 as sixth choice after finishing in 1:17.83.

Grand Daddy had finished second in a $25,000 claiming race two starts back before capturing a Dec. 23 allowance at Turfway to earn a shot at the Forego from Drury, who is based at the Skylight training center just east of Louisville. Interestingly, from 22 career starts, Grand Daddy has raced in stakes three times – and every time it was the Forego at Turfway, running second in 2010, fourth in 2011, and now winning the 2012 renewal. The horse earned $28,830 with his eighth lifetime win to push his bankroll to $151,669.