Jostle Stakes turns out to be right spot for Tea Time

Trainer Michael Matz made the right move by bring his 3-year-old filly Tea Time to Parx Racing to sprint on dirt rather than shipping her to Monmouth Park, where she was cross-entered to make her turf debut in the Crank It Up Stakes.

A minor stakes winner last fall but no better than fourth in her first two starts this season, Tea Time ($19) got first run on pacesetter Fat Kat at the top of the stretch and drew clear to win Saturday’s $75,000 Jostle Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths. Fat Kat, second choice at 9-5 after winning three straight, held second by a length. Offlee Golden, a 22-1 outsider, edged Angel of Mercy by a half-length for third. Stormy Novel, sent off as the 4-5 favorite after finishing second in the Miss Preakness, never threatened and finished fifth of six.

Ridden for the first time by Joshua Navarro, Tea Time ran 6 ½ furlongs in 1:16.xx. It was her third win in seven lifetime starts for the partnership of Helen Groves and Jon and Sarah Kelly. Last year, she won an overnight stakes at Belmont Park to close out her 2-year-old campaign.

This spring, she was competitive for a half-mile before fading in the Grade 2 Beaumont on Keeneland’s Polytrack and lost all chance when she was pinched back and steadied at the start of last month’s Miss Preakness at Pimlico.