Hard-knocking gelding Ninetyprcentmaddie was as good once as he ever was against statebred rivals in the $100,000 Storm Cat Stakes at Parx Racing on Friday. With the help of an equipment change and some added distance, the graded stakes-placed runner snapped a 14-race losing streak by upsetting Wild Vine by a nose. “Been a while between dances, but we felt like we needed to change him up,” Reid said. “He kind of got in a little rut maybe. He banged heads against the toughest horses on the East Coast and more than held his own, but he needed something to change up his attitude a little bit.” Last year, Reid’s Pennsylvania-bred returned to Parx as a conquering hero after three straight in-the-money finishes in graded stakes in New York. His struggles to find the winner’s circle in those races were understandable, but the pattern became more concerning when he failed to deliver in softer spots at his home track. After four straight defeats in sprints this year, Reid decided to shake things up. The trainer had always thought of the gelding as a route runner and embraced the mile and 70 yards of the Storm Cat. In a somewhat stranger move, he added blinkers in a belated attempt to help the 5-year-old focus. He responded well to them in training, so Reid decided to race with them on Friday. The pace scenario in the Storm Cat changed rapidly when 7-2 second choice Kohler’s broke slowly and never got involved on the front end. Dropline, an outsider trained by Robert Mosco, kicked away to an uncontested lead through an opening quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds while Ninetyprcentmaddie and jockey Eliseo Ruiz chased behind in second. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Soon after Dropline kicked away to a two-length lead through a half-mile in 46.29, the field began to shuffle behind the early leader. Ninetyprcentmaddie seemed poised to make a bid while Wild Vine, the even-money favorite trained by Jamie Ness, began tearing up ground from last. Mychel Sanchez was moving forward at will aboard Wild Vine and seemed prepared to take command with ease when he breezed past Dropline turning for home. But when Ruiz called on Ninetyprcentmaddie to keep pace, the salty gelding dug in and refused to let Wild Vine past. The new leaders were in an undisputed duel all the way to the wire, as no other closer mounted anything resembling a challenge in the closing stages. Wild Vine continued battling and never relented, but Ninetyprcentmaddie was resolute to the very end to score the $13.20 upset. He completed the mile and 70 yards in 1:41.36. “As the old expression goes, keep myself in the best company possible and my horses in the worst company possible,” Reid said.  “You’ve got to look for those spots to build confidence and get back on a roll. Hopefully, this is the first step in that process.” Dropline never re-engaged with the top flight and finished 1 1/4 lengths behind, but he easily managed to hold off the stragglers for third. Prince Lucky Stakes After a long inquiry, the Parx stewards determined that the winner of the $100,000 Prince Lucky Stakes, Beyondexpectations, interfered with Come Prima in the stretch and they gave the runner-up the victory by disqualification. Come Prima, a Bernie Houghton-trained 3-year-old, was already walking back to the barn when the trainer finally got his photo taken in the winner’s circle. “As the stewards go, it was a tough call,” Houghton said. “I wouldn’t want to be the winner, and I’m the winner now, but I wouldn’t want to be waiting it out because it could have gone either way.” Beyondexpectations, the early leader trained by Butch Reid, was coming off a maiden victory at Parx last time out and went straight to the front in the shortened field of five on Friday. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  After completing the opening quarter-mile in 23.12 and half-mile in 46.08, jockey Eliseo Ruiz had to ask him for more when both of Houghton’s runners, Come Prima and Silhoutte Cove, came calling on the far turn. Beyondexpectations led by a length at the top of the stretch of the seven-furlong race. Silhoutte Cove had little to offer in the final furlong, leaving Come Prima as Houghton’s last chance at a victory. But when jockey Ricardo Chiappe urged Come Prima alongside Beyondexpectations, the last-out maiden winner drifted out and carried Come Prima with him. The two ran on evenly to the wire with Beyondexpectations prevailing by a head. He was timed in 1:23.74. “I had a lot of horse and had a lot of space to go outside, and when I went to pass [Beyondexpectations], he came out and intimidated my horse,” Chiappe said. Chiappe and David Cora, the jockey on Silhoutte Cove, both claimed foul against Ruiz for the incident in the stretch. Cora’s claim was dismissed, but the stewards sided with Chiappe’s claim that Come Prima had a reasonable chance of taking the lead with a clear path. Their positions were reversed, and Come Prima paid $5.60 to win. Silhoutte Cove kept longshot L Golden Boy at bay and held on to third. He finished 2 1/2 lengths behind the top pair. Reid, who won the Storm Cat with Ninetyprcentmaddie later on the card, disagreed with the ruling but ultimately honored the decision. “It happens a lot in this sport and I understand where the judges are coming from,” Reid said. Imply Stakes Carousel Queen came back from a short layoff sharper than ever to win the $100,000 Imply Stakes at Parx Racing. Trainer Scott Lake said that her 5 1/4-length victory conformed with the drastic improvement he has seen from the filly in recent workouts. “I expected her to run the way she did today,” Lake said. “You hope for the best and expect the worst, but she’s changed a lot in the last two months, three months. Her two works were just really impressive.” Several fillies broke near the front in the seven-furlong sprint, but jockey Mychel Sanchez showed little urgency on Carousel Queen in the early going. While 6-1 outsiders Angel of Hope and Marilyn M dueled through an opening quarter-mile in 22.67 seconds, Lake’s filly settled five lengths off the lead in last. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Sanchez waited a little while longer while the front-runners completed the half-mile in 45.83, but when he called on Carousel Queen to make her move on the far turn, she responded with devastating efficiency. The surging filly easily picked off the flagging runners in the top flight and was already two lengths ahead at the top of the stretch. Lake noted that when the same horses face one another all the time, advantages between rivals are constantly changing. When his filly last ran in July, she finished behind Angel of Hope by less than a length in a restricted allowance. She was 11 1/2 lengths better than that third-place rival on Friday, completing the seven-furlong distance in 1:24.86 and paying $5.80 to win. Up N Runnin, a filly trained by Edward Coletti Jr., couldn’t keep pace with Carousel Queen from the back of the pack but ran on well to finish second, 6 1/4 lengths ahead of Angel of Hope. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.