Carmouche controls pace aboard Offaly Cool in M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile

Offaly Cool parlayed a comfortable front-running trip into a mild upset in Tuesday's $75,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at Parx Racing.

Ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, the speedy 3-year-old gelding grabbed the lead and the rail entering the first turn, and set slow fractions of 25.46 and 49.71 seconds while facing only token pressure from King Kumbalay and Large.

Carmouche asked for a bit more on the far bend, and Offaly Cool kicked for home following a six-furlong split of 1:14.31. They were never seriously threatened in the stretch while beating older rivals and completed the distance in 1:39.18

King Kumbalay was 4 3/4 lengths back in second. Odds-on Nimitz Class finished another 5 1/2 back in third. Then came Be Better, Dontmesawithme, Large, and No Salt.

No Sabe Nada, Magic Michael, Doppelganger and People Force were scratched.

Offaly Cool returned $8.60 as the second choice in the betting.

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Nimitz Class, backed heavily off his upset victory over Breeders’ Cup bound Gunite in the Parx Dirt Mile, saved ground in the pocket, but couldn’t sprint home with the top two finishers.

A 3-year-old gelding by Kantharos, Offaly Cool was claimed for $30,000 by owner Lawrence Rebbecchi Jr. and trainer Jacinto Solis out of a fourth-place finish in his seasonal debut at Turfway Park.

Offaly Cool had only performed on turf and synthetic surfaces before the claim, and the new connections immediately switched Offaly Cool to dirt.

That decision paid immediate dividends when Offaly Cool won a “two-life” allowance at Parx on April 18, then finished a close second in the Long Branch at Monmouth Park on May 13. He captured a “three-life” allowance at Parx 25 days later.

Offaly Cool hit the board in three subsequent starts leading up to the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile, including a runner-up effort in a high-level allowance on Sept. 4. Although beaten at odds-on in that race, Offaly Cool earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms, Offaly Cool sold for $30,000 as a yearling at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale. His second dam, Sleep Easy, won the Grade 1 Hollywood Oaks in 1995 and is a half-sibling to multiple Grade 1-winning dirt router Aptitude from the family of Coastal and Slew o’ Gold.

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