Mind Control snatches victory from jaws of defeat in Parx Dirt Mile

BENSALEM, Pa. - Mind Control was passed in late stretch by favored Silver State in Saturday’s $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile but re-rallied along the inside to win by a head.

Mind Control broke outward under John Velazquez, but quickly settled into a good stalking position outside pacesetters Rock On Lute and Warrior's Charge through opening fractions of 23.52 and 47.16 seconds.

Meanwhile, the 4-5 Silver State hopped straight up at the break and was last on the backstretch.

Mind Control made a three-wide move to contention turning into the stretch, but Silver State and jockey Ricardo Santana were in full flight to his outside. Silver State claimed the lead and looked a sure winner with 100 yards remaining, but Mind Control got his head down at the wire.

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Mind Control completed the mile on the fast dirt track in 1:36.59 and paid $7.20 as the second betting choice. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 104. It was another half-length back to Warrior's Charge in third. They were followed home by Rock On Lute, Thorny Tale, West Will Power, and Informative.

"He didn't give up, I didn't give up," said Velazquez. "When you ask for more, they give you more. It's a great feeling when they give it to you."

"I was watching Silver State make his move around the turn," said Byron Hughes, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher. "He got the momentum and the jump on us on the outside, and for Mind Control to fight back like that was pretty impressive."

Santana called the loss a “heartbreaker.”

“He passed the other horse easy, and as soon as he touched the lead, I don’t know if he saw something or what, but he pulled himself up,” Santana said of Silver State, who earlier this year won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.

Mind Control raced around two turns for the first time since the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

"He's always trained well and acted like a horse that could stretch out with good gallop-outs in his breezes," Hughes said.

Bred in Kentucky by Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables, Mind Control is a 5-year-old son of Stay Thirsty. He has won six graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens, and earned more than $1.4 million.

- additional reporting by David Grening