Imply well spotted in Plum Pretty Stakes

Imply has been a highly consistent mare for the Barlar LLC of Larry Karp and trainer Bernie Houghton during her four seasons of competition. And even though her win rate has slowed the past two seasons, she is well spotted Saturday at Parx Racing to score her third stakes win in the $100,000 Plum Pretty.

A 1 1/16-mile dirt race for Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares, the Plum Pretty drew a field of nine but is expected to lose 8-5 morning-line favorite Rose Tree, whom trainer Jonathan Sheppard planned to run at Presque Isle on Thursday evening.

Imply is a 5-year-old daughter of E Dubai, whom Karp previously stood in Pennsylvania. She is 7 for 22 in her career and has a 3 for 8 record on turf, is 2 for 4 on Tapeta, and 2 for 10 on dirt. Her prior stakes wins came in the Lyphard on grass at Penn National and in the Northern Fling over the synthetic track at Presque Isle.

In her last race, Imply rallied from far back to miss by a neck to Rose Tree in the off-the-turf Mrs. Penny Stakes at Parx. It was 2 3/4 lengths back over the wet-fast track to Miss Avalon in third and another 5 1/2 lengths back to fourth-place finisher Disco Rose, both of whom return in the Plum Pretty.

If there is cause for concern regarding Imply, it is that she began her career going 5 for 11 but over the past two seasons has won only twice from 11 starts. During that time, she has finished second, beaten a neck, on five occasions.

Her regular rider, Julio Hernandez, will be aboard for Houghton, who also has entered Trace of Grace and Trolley Ride.

Miss Avalon came into the Mrs. Penny on a two-race win streak for trainer John Servis but ran evenly and lacked the closing kick she had shown in her optional-claiming and allowance scores. She may not have cared for the wet track that day and can be expected to return to form Saturday over what should be a fast surface.

Leading rider Frankie Pennington has the mount. Pennington won five races at Parx last Monday and two more Tuesday.

While Imply and Miss Avalon will be coming from off the pace, Behrnik’s Bank will be winging on the lead. The fast 5-year-old has been showing the way on the lead in sprint races and will stretch out around two turns for the first time in more than a year.

While nobody in the field is capable of keeping up with Behrnik’s Bank early, she is suspect going two turns at this stage of her career.

Trainer Dimitrios Synnefias has given the job of rationing Behrnik’s Bank’s speed to Jose Valdivia Jr., who just wrapped up his fourth consecutive Arlington Park riding title.