Bracket Buster has target on his back in Parx Dirt Mile
:quality(75))
Bracket Buster has done his best running while flying under the radar on the national scene, but the 4-year-old colt could soon step up with a much bigger target on his back. All eyes will be on him in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile on Saturday at Parx Racing, where he could cement himself as one on the rise.
“He was a late-May foal, and that’s why we took our time with him and spotted him well last year,” trainer Victoria Oliver said. “He was still immature, and I think he’s really come into himself as a 4-year-old.”
The Parx Dirt Mile is the last of five listed stakes on the Pennsylvania Derby Day card at Parx, which will also include the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, Grade 1 Cotillion, and Grade 2 Gallant Bob. In total, the eight stakes on the 15-race card will offer $3.3 million in purse money.
In a plucky 3-year-old campaign that included victories in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby and $150,000 Pegasus, Bracket Buster became best known for running a distant second behind Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Travers.
Oliver took her time bringing the colt back for his 4-year-old season, but her search for the perfect spot ultimately proved unnecessary. When he finally returned in the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s at Mountaineer last month, he unleashed a performance few in the country could match, kicking clear by 15 lengths.
For his romp in West Virginia, Bracket Buster earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure, tied for the eighth best figure in a race beyond a mile this year. He is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the main field of 10 at Parx, where he will cut back to a two-turn mile.
“I think he can get the mile and an eighth, but it’s still a guess if that’s his best distance against older horses,” Oliver said. “I’d rather bring him along quietly.”
In his second start this year, Bracket Buster will have to prove his form against Saudi Crown, who won the Pennsylvania Derby in his only prior trip to Parx in 2024. The 6-year-old, a highly familiar graded stakes contender for trainer Brad Cox, has not run since June, when he pressed the pace in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and faded to fifth behind Nysos.
Warp Nine and Hall of Fame finished behind Bracket Buster in the West Virginia Governor’s. Warp Nine will get to run over his home track this time for trainer Harold Wyner, while Hall of Fame earned a 100 Beyer when he last ran a mile in the Grade 3 Hanshin at Churchill Downs for Steve Asmussen.
Saffie Joseph Jr. said Dilger will “probably” scratch, while Alexander Helios is possible to run.
Greenwood Cup
Parchment Party is supremely prepared to tackle the 1 1/2-mile distance in the $150,000 Greenwood Cup Stakes on Saturday, but trainer Bill Mott won’t be predicting a victory until he sees it. A lot can happen in a horse’s first trip to Parx.
“It’s always a guessing game,” Mott said. “You see horses that run very well over there, and then I’ve had some horses that can be very disappointing over that track for some reason. But I guess that happens everywhere.”
Mott, who has not won a race at Parx since 2016, is understandably uncertain about the trip to Pennsylvania, but travel has never been a problem for his dirt marathoner. In five starts at 1 1/2 miles or longer on dirt, Parchment Party has earned four stakes victories at Saratoga, Oaklawn Park, and Churchill Downs. He even tried the two-mile Melbourne Cup last year in Australia.
Last month, the 5-year-old suffered his first domestic marathon defeat on dirt in the $200,000 Birdstone at Saratoga, where he lost a tight photo finish to his stablemate, Stars and Stripes.
“He ran very hard,” Mott said of the runner-up finish in the Birdstone. “He did everything but win.”
Carolo Rapido and Waitlist will also ship to Parx after finishing well behind Parchment Party in the Birdstone.
Only two other horses in the field of nine have ever run 1 1/2 miles. San Siro, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Brendan Walsh, tried the distance on turf last year and will stretch out on dirt after winning a 1 1/8-mile allowance at Saratoga last month.
Liberty Bell Stakes
After three straight defeats, Haulin Ice is currently on the worst losing streak of her career, but Saffie Joseph Jr. said he expects the eight-time stakes winner’s luck to change in the $150,000 Liberty Bell Stakes.
“I feel like she’s going into this race in top form,” Joseph said. “Hopefully, it transfers to the afternoon. It if does, she should be very tough.”
Of Haulin Ice’s recent defeats, which included a start on turf in May, her most surprising was an unlucky third at 1-2 odds in the $100,000 Rehoboth at Delaware Park. She delivered a much stronger effort in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga next time out, finishing second by 1 1/4 lengths with a 96 Beyer.
If Joseph’s filly is going to snap her losing streak, she will have to do so against Irish Maxima, coming in off a four-race winning streak. After winning the Grade 2 Ruffian at Aqueduct in May, the John Servis trainee successfully rated to win the $150,000 Dashing Beauty in July.
Philly Special
Joseph entered a pair of 5-year-old mares with vastly different backgrounds in the $150,000 Philly Special Stakes. Sugar Fish, once a graded stakes contender on the West Coast, will break right alongside U Lite Up My Life, a longtime Florida-based runner making her stakes debut.
Sugar Fish, who won the Grade 2 Zenyatta at Santa Anita for trainer Jeff Mullins in 2024, has only run four times since the start of the 2025 season. She will ship to Parx and tackle a mile and 70 yards off a six-month layoff, having most recently finished second in the $135,000 Lapatourel Overnight at Oaklawn in March.
“She was ready to run a little while ago and got sick, so we had to start over,” Joseph said. “She should run well, all being well.”
U Lite Up My Life ran exclusively in Florida for trainer Gerald Bennett in her first 15 career starts before moving into Joseph’s barn this year. She has since won 2 of 3 starts and returned from a short break to win a first-level allowance at Colonial Downs on Sept. 6.
Scalable, a 5-year-old coming off three distant defeats in graded stakes for Todd Pletcher, has a clear class advantage in the field of seven fillies and mares. The Philly Special will be her first listed stakes start since winning the $175,000 Top Flight at Aqueduct in March.
Stable Recovery
Buccherino, a popular Parx-based stakes winner trainer by Alfredo Velazquez, might finally get back to his best race from post 2 in the $150,000 Stable Recovery Stakes. The 5-year-old has taken the long road back from injury and will make his second start off a six-month layoff.
“I don’t like the post position, but everything else I like,” Velazquez said.
Buccherino is one of four runners in the Stable Recovery coming out of the $75,000 State Representative’s Sprint last month. He finished fourth that day, but Velazquez said he needed the race and has worked extremely well since.
The 6 1/2-furlong Stable Recovery has taken the place of the Parx Dirt Sprint, a race Buccherino won on Pennsylvania Derby Day last year.
Ned Allard said Quint’s Brew will likely scratch, cutting the field down to seven.
Fire Pit, the winner of the State Representative’s Sprint, will go for his second stakes victory while in peak form for Guadalupe Preciado. When Flavien Prat decided to ride the Rick Dutrow trainee Ignite the Light, Preciado said he had to scramble to recruit Luis Saez, who finished third aboard Fire Pit in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob last year.
Vibe, once a rising star trained by Pletcher, will cut back in distance after two poor finishes at Saratoga.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.