Mr. Money facing tougher company in Pennsylvania Derby

As the trainer of the streaking Mr. Money, Bret Calhoun was disappointed to learn of the scratch of Maximum Security from Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on two fronts.

First, he wanted to see how his horse stacked up against the presumptive leader of the 3-year-old division. Second, Maximum Security’s defection could leave Improbable as the lone speed in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx.

With Maximum Security in the field, Calhoun said, “the race might have set up a little better for us.”

“The fact he is the top 3-year-old, I would have liked to have faced him. It is what it is. I feel bad for the connections. We’re really ready. We’re looking forward to it.”

It would be no surprise if Mr. Money ends up going off the favorite in the Pennsylvania Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race where beaten Kentucky Derby and Preakness favorite Improbable is listed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite set by track oddsmaker John DaSilva. Mr. Money is the 2-1 second choice followed by Preakness winner War of Will (4-1).

Mr. Money, a son of Goldencents owned by Chester Thomas’s Allied Racing Stable, had a difficult winter. Between illness and a stall incident, he seemed to always be playing catch-up. It wasn’t until the Louisiana Derby – where Mr. Money finished fifth behind the Calhoun-trained By My Standards – that Calhoun felt Mr. Money actually did catch up.

On the first Saturday in May, hours before By My Standards finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby, Mr. Money won the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile by 5 1/4 lengths, beating Hog Creek Hustle, who would come back to win the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont in June.

Mr. Money has since won the Matt Winn, Indiana Derby, and West Virginia Derby, all Grade 3 stakes. He was dominant in each race. He won the Indiana Derby by only 2 1/2 lengths, but there was a loose horse running near him that had jockey Gabe Saez riding tentatively.

“It took us to the Louisiana Derby to get us back on track,” Calhoun said. “He had a wide trip in the Louisiana Derby. He’s obviously moved forward from there and has been good all along. Chester’s allowed us to place him in some spots where he’s been dominant. He hasn’t had any grueling, grinding races.”

Mr. Money, who breaks from post 6, has been good away from the gate and should be forwardly placed, tracking the expected pacesetter Improbable, who breaks from post 2 under Mike Smith for Bob Baffert. Smith and Baffert have teamed to win the last two runnings of the Pennsylvania Derby, last year with McKinzie and in 2017 with West Coast.

Improbable, a son of City Zip owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club International, is coming off a 2 3/4-length victory over three rivals in the Shared Belief Stakes going a two-turn mile at Del Mar. He raced in blinkers that day, equipment that appeared to set him off when he finished second in the Arkansas Derby in April. Improbable did not wear blinkers in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished fifth (elevated to fourth), or Preakness, where he ran sixth.

Speaking of the Shared Belief, Baffert said: “I liked his race. He’s a speed horse.”

War of Will won the Preakness with a perfect trip but bombed in the Belmont and Jim Dandy. War of Will was on the lead in the Jim Dandy but that’s not where trainer Mark Casse wanted him. His better races have come from a stalking position.

War of Will shows four bullet workouts since Aug. 25, all coming since he’s been equipped with glue-on shoes and a figure-eight bridle, which will help keep the colt’s mouth closed while he’s running. Tyler Gaffalione rides from post 4.

The main local hope is Spun to Run, a son of Hard Spun who is 3 for 5 over the Parx main track, including a narrow victory in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones on Sept. 2. That followed a well-beaten third behind Maximum Security in the Grade 1 Haskell. Spun to Run’s last two races have come in blinkers.

Math Wizard, claimed for $25,000 in January, finished behind Mr. Money in the Indiana Derby, where he was third, and West Virginia Derby where he was sixth.

Shanghai Superfly is winless in eight starts and would seem inappropriately spotted.

The Pennsylvania Derby goes as race 11 on a 13-race card that begins at 12:25 p.m. The Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies will be broadcast live on NBC Sports during a one-hour broadcast that begins at 5 p.m. Eastern.