Favorite Tale bumped to Plan B in Marshall Jenney
The Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races card at Parx on Saturday will include five $100,000 statebred stakes as planned – just not the five originally scheduled. The Banjo Picker was canceled when it failed to draw a sufficient number of entrants, and the Mrs. Penny was split into two divisions after 17 fillies and mares were named for the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
When Grade 2 Smile Sprint winner Favorite Tale was entered in the six-furlong Banjo Picker, some horsemen considering the race may have lost their enthusiasm. In the end, only four were entered, according to director of racing Sam Elliott.
When the Banjo Picker went down, trainer Lupe Preciado switched Favorite Tale to the Marshall Jenney Handicap, a five-furlong turf sprint. Although Favorite Tale has only raced once on turf, he did run well when finishing third, beaten a head, in the $100,000 Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga last summer.
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Preciado said on Thursday he was “probably” going to run in the Jenney Handicap but was not sure.
“I am going to talk to the owners, and we will decide,” he said. “Right now, we are leaning to running.”
The timing of the Jenney works well for Favorite Tale. He last raced Aug. 1, finishing third in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga. Preciado is considering upcoming races for Favorite Tale at Keeneland and Belmont Park. His options include the Grade 3 Phoenix at Keeneland on Oct. 2 and the Grade 1 Vosburgh in New York on Sept. 26. Both are at six furlongs.
If Favorite Tale runs in the Jenney Handicap, he will carry 124 pounds and concede three to 10 pounds to his nine rivals.
Merry’s Honor, who won the Jenney Handicap last year for Kate DeMasi, will carry 118. The second highweight is El Seventyseven, whom trainer Mac Roberston has brought in from Canterbury Park.
◗ Page McKenney is the horse to beat in the Roanoke, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race. Page McKenney has not finished worse than third in 18 starts dating to April 2014. He broke a four-race losing streak in his most recent outing when returning to Pennsylvania-bred company in the Robellino, a turf race at Penn National.
Trained by Mary Eppler, who claimed him for $16,000 in July 2013, Page McKenney is a 12-time winner who has earned $835,178. His regular rider, Horacio Karamanos, will be aboard.
◗ The first division of the Mrs. Penny is race 9 and follows the Jenney and Roanoke. The second division is race 11.
Since winning the Dahlia Stakes at Pimlico in April, Nellie Cashman has lacked the needed closing kick in her last three starts. Those races came against open company, however, and trainer Francis Abbott III has found a nice spot here for his 5-year-old mare. He will equip her with blinkers for this race.
The second division of the Mrs. Penny matches Emotional Kitten, trained by Wesley Ward, and Kitten’s Point, who races for Graham Motion. Emotional Kitten finished third, beaten a neck, in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee when sent to Del Mar for her last start Aug. 8. Kitten’s Point has raced in five straight graded turf marathons and will be shortening up markedly in distance. She won the Bewitch at Keeneland in April.
◗ Race 10, the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial, is a wide-open seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies. Five of the eight entrants won their last starts. Discreet Senorita earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure last out while winning a second-level statebred allowance for trainer Edward Lehman and is the horse to beat. Discreet Senorita, a daughter of Discreet Cat, is 4 for 8 in her career.