Brown goes for Mountainview three-peat

The four undercard stakes supporting the Grade 3 Penn Mile have drawn runners from California, Kentucky, and Florida in addition to all the usual Northeastern tracks.

The three open stakes kick off the card, which has a 6 p.m. Eastern first post, and are followed by the Penn Mile and the Lyphard, which is restricted to Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares. An all-stakes pick four begins on race 1, as do rolling daily doubles and pick threes. The card will be streamed live on DRF.com.

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Trainer Chad Brown will be shooting for his third straight win in the $200,000 Mountainview Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up. He won the Mountainview in 2014 with Last Gunfighter and two years ago with Easter Gift.

Brown’s Mountainview entrant this year is the speedy Cousin Stephen, a winner of two of his last three starts.

Brown also won the Penn Mile last year with Bobby’s Kitten. He will be represented this year by top contender Night Prowler.

East Coast favorite Ben’s Cat will race in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, a five-furlong turf sprint. Now 9, Ben’s Cat wowed the crowd at Pimlico on Black-Eyed Susan Day by winning his 29th career race in the McKay Turf Sprint.

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Here’s a look at the undercard fields:

◗ Mountainview, race 3: There are several speed horses in the lineup in addition to Cousin Stephen, which could set things up for Kid Cruz.

The late-running Kid Cruz has not won in four starts since taking the Grade 2 Dwyer at Belmont last July. In his last start, he finished well to be second behind Red Vine in a one-mile optional-claiming race at Aqueduct on April 1. The extra furlong Saturday should work in his favor, and Red Vine came back to win impressively at Monmouth last weekend.

“This next race will be a real tell for us: Are we going to the more prestigious races and develop stallion value for him or spotting him around the country?” said Kid Cruz’s trainer, Linda Rice.

Albano, trained by Larry Jones, might be favored. Albano was second, beaten a half-length, in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap last out and might settle into a favorable stalking position off the early pacesetters.

◗ Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, race 2: This $150,000 race will rematch the top four finishers from the McKay Turf Sprint: Ben’s Cat, Bold Thunder, Amelia’s Wild Ride, and Grateful Nation.

Although Ben’s Cat got up to win by a neck, the front-running Bold Thunder may have cost himself the race by ducking outward from the whip in midstretch and then drifting back in late. As usual, Bold Thunder will have to be caught to be beaten.

◗ Penn Oaks, race 1: The purse of the Oaks has been raised $50,000 this year to $150,000. Quality Rocks will be a solid favorite in the one-mile turf race based on her runner-up effort to Feathered in the Grade 3 Edgewood at Churchill Downs on May 1.

Feathered was allowed to set a soft pace in the 1 1/16-mile Edgewood and then came home quickly. Quality Rocks, never far back, couldn’t get to Feathered while clearly second-best.

Prior to the Edgewood, Quality Rocks faced Consumer Credit twice. Quality Rocks beat her in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs and was second to her in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant at Gulfstream. Consumer Credit has since won the Memories of Silver at Aqueduct by a neck over Pine Needles, who was 2 for 2 in her career coming into that race.

Both Feathered and Consumer Credit are entered in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Prize Exhibit is a top contender in the Penn Oaks. She finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year for trainer Jamie Osborne. Trained by Jim Cassidy this year, Prize Exhibit has won an allowance race and been fourth in both the Grade 2 Honeymoon and Grade 3 Providencia at Santa Anita.

Trainer Brown cross-entered Strict Compliance in the American Oaks but has said he will run her here. Strict Compliance won a Keeneland allowance over turf and a Gulfstream maiden race in her last two starts.

◗ Lyphard Stakes, race 5: Lenape Rim won this $75,000, restricted turf race for fillies and mares last year and is back for another shot. The 1 1/16-mile Lyphard has drawn a field of 12.