Flameaway tops field of eight in Smarty Jones Stakes

Flameaway and Diamond King, both alums of this year's Triple Crown trail, top a field of eight 3-year-olds drawn for the Grade 3, $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Saturday at Parx Racing. The race serves as a local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 22.

Flameaway, last seen finishing second by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, will be seeking his fifth career stakes win for trainer Mark Casse. The Scat Daddy colt finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby, sitting fourth at the quarter pole but fading late.

Flameaway, who would prefer to be forwardly-placed, drew post 7 in the field of eight with Jose Lezcano named to ride.

Diamond King drew post 5 under Frankie Pennington, who has ridden him in all but one start, that being when he finished seventh in the Preakness. Trained locally by John Servis, the Quality Road colt has won a pair of stakes, including the Federico Tesio in April.

The field from the rail out with riders is: First Mondays, Joshua Navarro; Cowboy Night, Jomar Garcia; Wait for It, Mychel Sanchez; Title Ready, Kendrick Carmouche; Diamond King, Pennington; Transistor, Luis Rodriguez Castro; Flameaway, Lezcano; and Axelrod, Joe Bravo.

Saturday's card at Parx also includes the $100,000 Salvatore M. DeBunda Stakes for older horses, led by the popular Pennsylvania-bred Page McKenney, who has amassed more than $1.9 million in earnings. The 8-year-old gelding, a multiple graded stakes winner, had a productive campaign this spring and summer at Monmouth Park, winning the Grade 3 Salvator Mile, finishing second in the Grade 2 Philip H. Iselin Stakes, and, most recently, running third in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup.