Grade 2 winner Stonetastic in $90,000 allowance

Grade 2 winner Stonetastic, narrowly beaten in her start in more than seven months about four weeks ago at Saratoga, will take her next step towards what her connections hope is a repeat trip to the Breeders’ Cup in a $90,000 race at Parx Racing on Tuesday.

The 4-year-old Stonetastic is the 5-1 morning-line favorite in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint open to third-level allowance and $40,000 claimers. She won the Grade 2 Prioress last summer and finished fourth after setting the pace at 3-1 odds in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

In her first start since last December, Stonetastic held a three-length lead in the $100,000 Shine Again on Aug. 5, only to get run down and finish second, a neck behind Unbridled Forever, in the seven-furlong listed stakes. Unbridled Forever came back to win Saturday’s Grade 1 Ballerina.

Stonetastic’s toughest foe among eight rivals in Tuesday’s ninth race looks like Thirteen Arrows, who cleared her second allowance condition by three lengths in mid-July at Monmouth Park.

Race 9

KEY CONTENDERS

Stonetastic (Last 3 Beyers: 95-51-85)

The last time she made the second start of her form cycle, she won the Prioress by a wide margin. She’s by far the classiest runner in this field.

Thirteen Arrows (Last 3 Beyers: 94-80-86)

Based on Beyers, she’s right there with Stonetastic. The runner-up from her most recent start at Monmouth came back to win with a 97 Beyer, which makes the win by Thirteen Arrows look even better.

Trainer Larry Jones is 3 for 5 with fillies and mares coming off a win with a career-best Beyer back after a break of 31 to 60 days in dirt sprints.

Bureau de Change (Last 3 Beyers: 82-86-66)

She is 2 for 3 lifetime, but has been off since finishing third making her first start on dirt in January at Gulfstream Park and trainer Brian Lynch is just 3 for 23 with females returning from more than 180 days on the sidelines in sprints.

Donita’s Ruler (Last 3 Beyers: 42-74-94)

She upset the $75,000 My Juliet at 18-1 in May, but that performance may have taken its toll as she has regressed in her two most recent starts. She’s in for a tag for the first time since she was claimed for $25,000 in April.