The Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx on Saturday will be supported by a trio of stakes: the Grade 3, $300,000 Gallant Bob, the $150,000 Connect, and the $100,000 Alphabet Soup. The Alphabet Soup, race 7, starts the sequence, which will be capped off in race 11 by the Pennsylvania Derby. A pick four begins in race 8 and there are rolling picks threes connecting all the stakes. Rolling daily doubles start on race 8 and continue through the end of the 13-race card. The Gallant Bob, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds that goes as race 9, has a field of 10, including an entry of favored Coal Front and Petrov. Coal Front is trained by Todd Pletcher and Petrov races for trainer Ron Moquett. Head of Plains Partners owns part of both horses. :: Get bonus PPs and watch Saturday's card live from Parx Coal Front began his career with three runaway wins, including the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga, in which he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest in the Gallant Bob field. Coal Front’s winning streak came to an end in his most recent start when he finished fifth in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens. After racing on or near the lead during his streak, Coal Front may have been taken out of his game in the Jerkens, when Takaful and Phi Beta Express sprinted well clear of the rest of the field. Coal Front held his position to upper stretch before flattening out. He was beaten 4 1/2 lengths by winner Practical Joke. Coal Front should be able to use his speed to good advantage in the Gallant Bob, and may appreciate the turnback from seven furlongs to six. John Velazquez rides. The field also includes California shipper American Pastime and Amsterdam runner-up Excitations. American Pastime is 3 for 5, all for trainer Bob Hess Jr., and is coming off a relatively easy win over older rivals in a second-level optional-claiming race at Del Mar. Kent Desormeaux, who will be in to ride on Saturday, eased up on American Pastime for the final sixteenth of that victory. “He’s been brilliant at times, never bad,” Hess said. “He’s extremely fast, but very versatile. He can come from off it, but press the pace as well.” Excitations closed well to be clearly second best to Coal Front in the 6 1/2-furlong Amsterdam. Trained by Al Stall Jr., he is only 2 for 7, but the 101 Beyer he earned in the Amsterdam is the second-highest in the lineup. The Connect, or Pennsylvania Derby Champion Stakes, is named in honor of last year’s Pennsylvania Derby winner. The 1 1/16-mile race matches a seasoned group of runners, including Just Call Kenny and Mr. Jordan, the first- and third-place finishers in the Grade 3 Iselin at Monmouth Park; the quick Matt King Coal; 19-time winner Page McKenney; and Donegal Moon, who comes off a nose loss to multiple graded-stakes-winning stablemate Destin in a third-level Saratoga optional claimer. Mr. Jordan and Page McKenney have had great success over the Parx main track. The past two seasons, Mr. Jordan has impressively won a pair of no-conditions allowance races at Parx. A year ago, he finished third, beaten a neck, in this stakes. Page McKenney, trained by Mary Eppler, is 5 for 6 over the dirt at Parx, and 2 for 2 in statebred stakes here this year. He won the seven-furlong Lyman Stakes in April and then three weeks ago overcame a rough trip to get up in deep stretch and win the 1 1/16-mile Roanoke by a neck over a sloppy track. “This is a tough race,” Eppler said. “It’s very competitive.” Just Call Kenny won the Iselin by four lengths for trainer Pat McBurney. He has a habit of breaking slowly, however, and can’t afford to make any mistakes from the outside post in the field of nine. Matt King Coal does his best work on the front end, and his chances improve if he can make an open lead. Mr. Jordan and Grasshoppin may be his strongest pace rivals. The Alphabet Soup, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for Pennsylvania-breds, has a wide-open 12-horse field. The top players include Firsthand Report, Tasit, and Threeohtwocassie. Firsthand Report, a filly who is conditioned by Pletcher, had a three-race win streak broken last out in the off-the turf Marshall Jenney. She never reached contention that day over a wet track she seemed not to like. She should improve here, but 1 1/16 miles is at the outer edge of her stamina limit. Tasit has been facing open optional-claiming company at Saratoga, Belmont, and Keeneland this year for trainer Michael Matz. He comes out of some difficult races and will be dropping in class in this stakes. Threeohtwocassie, a 3-year-old trained by Anthony Pecoraro, won the Crowd Pleaser over this course and distance in July, but will face tougher company here.