Parx Racing: Teeth of the Dog, Prospective top Smarty Jones Stakes lineup

Barbara D. Livingston

Teeth of the Dog will try to rebound in Monday's $350,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing.

Graded stakes winners Teeth of the Dog and Prospective head a field of nine 3-year-olds who were entered Thursday for Monday’s $350,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing.

The Grade 3 Smarty Jones, to be contested at a mile and 70 yards, is the local prep for the Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 22. The Smarty Jones tops a Labor Day stakes tripleheader that includes the Grade 3, $350,000 Turf Monster Handicap – a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint – and the $200,000 Turf Amazon Handicap for fillies and mares.

Teeth of the Dog, winner of the Grade 2 Dwyer, and Prospective, winner of the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, are both looking to bounce back from subpar performances over a sloppy track in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Teeth of the Dog was fourth and Prospective last of eight in that July 28 race.

The Smarty Jones field includes fifth-place Jim Dandy finisher My Adonis, who won the listed Long Branch at Monmouth Park and was second in the Grade 3 Gotham this past spring, and Easter Gift, second by a neck in the Grade 3 Pegasus at Monmouth in mid-June.

The 11-horse lineup for the five-furlong Turf Monster features defending champion Ben’s Cat, who is 9 for 14 lifetime on turf, and Chamberlain Bridge, whose 17 turf victories and $1.8 million in earnings includes the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

The field also includes Kyma, 34-1 upset winner of the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup last time out; Great Mills, second by a nose in a pair of Grade 3 turf stakes the past two seasons; and Bridgetown, second to Ben’s Cat in the Parx Dash and winner of the Troy at Saratoga in his most recent start.

Among the 12 entered for the Turf Amazon are the 3-year-old filly Sensible Lady, who looks for her fourth straight stakes victory; Nechez Dawn, winner of the Daisycutter at Del Mar last time out; and Inspired, a four-time stakes winner on the grass this season.