Bartlett seeks breakthrough turf victory Pennsylvania Governor's Cup

It could be argued that Bartlett is one of the strongest turf runners in the country without a win on the surface, but the 5-year-old gelding’s long-overdue score could come in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup Stakes on Friday at Penn National.

“I think he’s just as good either way, turf or dirt,” trainer John Servis said. “He seems to run the same numbers and pretty much the same race.”

With seven wins in 12 career starts on dirt, including a statebred stakes victory in the $100,000 Storm Cat at Parx Racing last month, Bartlett has developed a highly respectable reputation in the Mid-Atlantic. He has only made three starts on turf, all losing efforts in stakes company, but he has arguably become more well known for those performances.

After running a game fifth behind Deterministic in his turf debut in the Grade 3 Hill Prince at Aqueduct in November 2024, the Pennsylvania-bred did not run on turf again until April this year, when he finished third in the $100,000 Henry S. Clark at Laurel Park.

The following month, Servis shipped the versatile gelding to Penn National for the $100,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap, in which he went to the lead again and finished second behind Eff Thirty Five. He has run on dirt twice since.

“I don’t think a mile and an eighth really fits him,” Servis said. “So a lot of those turf races unfortunately don’t fit him, but I like where we’re at Friday.”

Bartlett, the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race, will likely benefit from at least one scratch in the field of seven. The 3-1 second choice, Air Recruit, ran at Monmouth Park last weekend and won the $100,000 Oceanport.

Idratherbeblessed, a Grade 2 winner based in Kentucky, will make his second start for trainer Mike Maker, who claimed him for $80,000 in June. The 6-year-old gelding suffered from an unfortunate trip in a $148,000 allowance at Churchill Downs in June.

“He didn’t get away good, and it was just one thing after another,” Maker said.

Maker won the 2025 edition of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup with Emmanuel.

Crowd Pleaser

Red Zone Runner will continue his journey on the turf in the $75,000 Crowd Pleaser Stakes on Friday. Once pegged as a rising star on dirt, the Pennsylvania-bred has since switched to the grass and found more in a resurgent 3-year-old campaign.

“I feel really good about him,” trainer Hugo Padilla said. “He gave us two nice works back to back. He already showed he likes the surface. We’re looking for the best.”

After winning the $75,000 City of Brotherly Love at Parx by 15 1/2 lengths in March, Padilla did not originally consider that the sloppy track had much to do with the colt’s performance. He went on to lose his next two starts, including the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, by a combined 87 3/4 lengths.

Padilla thought about a surface change for several weeks and pulled the trigger on June 11, when Red Zone Runner finished a game fourth against salty allowance rivals in his turf debut at Penn National. He came back 13 days later to take down statebred allowance rivals by 5 3/4 lengths.

Red Zone Runner set the pace in his last two starts and will break from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile race on Friday. The field of eight Pennsylvania-breds will likely be shortened by scratches.

Trainer Bernie Houghton said he entered Guitar Money and Mister Me in case the race is taken off the turf.

Marshall Jenney

Fierce and Strong has had some tough luck in three starts as a 6-year-old, but trainer Michael Salvaggio Jr. said he expects the gelding to bounce back in the $75,000 Marshall Jenney Stakes on Friday.

“Things haven’t been going glowingly yet so far this year,” Salvaggio said. “We’ll try to get him back on track. He’s doing well and I think the race sets up good enough for him.”

Coming off a stellar 2025 campaign that included three stakes victories, Fierce and Strong returned in May and faded badly in the $75,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race he won last year.

“I don’t think he’s a route horse anymore,” Salvaggio said.

Back at five furlongs in June, the Pennsylvania-bred somehow got caught in tight quarters in a four-horse allowance field and faded back to a distant third. He was entered in the $100,000 Wolf Hill at Monmouth Park in July, only for that race to be moved to dirt. He finished last.

The Penn National-based hopeful is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the five-furlong turf sprint, but he will have to go through Jean Valjean in the main field of eight Pennsylvania-breds. The Elizabeth Merryman-trained gelding is unbeaten in two starts at Penn National.

Since winning a $56,000 allowance at Laurel Park with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in May, Jean Valjean has run in three deep fields, most recently finishing fifth in a $130,000 allowance at Saratoga.