Next tries to stay atop division in Greenwood Cup marathon
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During the early months of 2022, trainer William “Doug” Cowans had his eye on a Not This Time gelding.
“I had watched him all winter at Turfway. I just liked the horse, so I took a shot on him,” Cowans said earlier this year.
Cowans claimed Next for $62,500 out of a ninth-place effort in a seven-furlong race at Keeneland.
“I was not always thinking distance,” Cowans admitted. “After I got the horse, in his breezes I noticed he had a lot of stamina after the breeze.”
The rest is history as Next has won 5 of 7 starts for Cowans and has emerged as the best dirt marathoner in the country.
He’ll look to add to his reputation in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Greenwood Cup for 3-year-olds and up traveling 12 furlongs at Parx Racing.
A stakes winner at a mile on turf for Wesley Ward in 2021, Next blossomed on the main track for Cowans. He has earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in four of his last five races, including impressive victories in the Grade 2 Brooklyn on June 10 at Belmont Park and Saratoga’s Birdstone on July 27.
As of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service was forecasting an 87 percent chance of heavy rain for Saturday, but that might not faze Next, who enters the Greenwood Cup a perfect 2 for 2 on wet tracks.
Ridin With Biden won this race last year in gate-to-wire fashion, and he successfully prepped in a 1 1/4-mile allowance at Parx last month. The Constitution gelding has captured half of his 14 starts at Parx.
“He’s a little bit of a bad actor in the stall, so it’s nice to run out of his own stall and not have to get on the van,” trainer Butch Reid said. “He’ll be a much more settled horse in familiar surroundings.”
Reid expects Ridin With Biden to be close to the pace.
“He likes to get his head down in between his knees and pull the rider around there,” he said.
Calibrate showed his affinity for longer distances when taking the 1 1/2-mile Temperance Hill on April 2 at Oaklawn Park. Second to Next in the Brooklyn, and again a runner-up when behind Ridin With Biden in the Greenwood prep, the Jamie Ness-trained Calibrate has been knocking on the door.
“The two horses that beat us are back in and they both have a little bit of speed,” Ness said. “We come from off the pace, and I’m hoping for more of a pace duel. This is a race we’ve been pointing for.”
Fowler Blue’s lone longer-distance dirt race resulted in a first-level allowance victory over muddy going June 29 at Ellis Park. Subsequently fifth in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup at nine furlongs, Fowler Blue might appreciate getting back out in trip for trainer Doug O’Neill.
Millionaire Ohio-bred Forewarned is always capable of an upset, while Bear Oak steps up in class following two wins at Saratoga for trainer Norm Casse.
Suigu Star and My Imagination complete the field.
Alphabet Soup Handicap
Rain or shine, Buy Land and See looks like the one to beat in the $100,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap for Pennsylvania-bred 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on turf.
Trained by Guadalupe Preciado, Buy Land and See won this race last year over firm turf, but he’s a proven performer on softer ground as well as on the main track. A winner in four of his last five starts, the 6-year-old son of Cairo Prince earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure when taking the Storm Cat on dirt Aug. 21 at Parx.
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Buy Land and See likes to be forwardly placed in his races, but so does Fore Harp, who stretches out in distance for Reid.
A winner going two turns at Parx in his seasonal debut, Fore Harp then captured the Laurel Dash with a 101 Beyer when shortening up to six furlongs on July 1. He has remained sprinting in his two subsequent starts.
“I’m hoping for a firmer turf course,” Reid said. “He seems like he doesn’t do his best running without the lead. He’ll go a long ways as long as he gets things his own way.”
Reid also entered King Kumbalay, who would be making his turf debut Saturday.
“The owner came through and said it’s fine to try him on the turf,” Reid said. “He has several good races on the synthetic at Presque Isle. Maybe the time has come to try him on the turf.”
A Shanghai Bobby gelding, King Kumbalay hails from an Augustin Stable female family with several strong turf influences.
Ness also entered two runners. Market Maven runs on firm turf and dirt, but not on soft. You Must Chill runs on any turf, but scratches if the race is moved to dirt.
You Must Chill wouldn’t mind softer ground as he recently won the restricted Lebanon Valley over a very wet Penn National course. The 7-year-old won this race in 2021 over a good course that played more to the soft side.
Trainer Tim Woolley has Crisper and Lacco Ameno, who finished second and third, respectively, in the Lebanon Valley. Both late-kickers would appreciate quick early fractions.
Dee Jay, Stella’s Tour, John Dutton, and Fierce and Strong also are entered.
In other stakes action:
◗ Following a failed turf experiment, Morning Matcha looks to regain her winning form in the $100,000 Plum Pretty for Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards. The multiple stakes winner finished second in last year’s Grade 1 Cotillion and was third in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap over the summer.
Warrior’s Ransom, an 8 3/4-length winner of a statebred allowance for Ness on Aug. 21, looks to have upside potential. Multiple stakes-placed Gunfyre Gal should show speed stretching out around two turns for the first time. Social Success has won her last five dirt starts.
◗ Gamboling Ghost seeks his third straight win in the $150,000 Prince Lucky for Pennsylvania-bred 2-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs.
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The winner of the Whistle Pig Stakes on Aug. 21, Gamboling Ghost beat three next-out winners in that race along with six of the same horses he’ll face Saturday. One of them, stablemate Poker Partner, deserves another chance as he had a disastrous trip in the Whistle Pig as the favorite.
Notice of Action deserves respect following a 79-Beyer debut victory at 5 1/2 furlongs.
◗ Aoife’s Magic and Dancing Spirit look like the main protagonists in the $150,000 Imply for Pennsylvania-bred juvenile fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Aoife’s Magic ran off and hid from statebred maiden special weights when winning his debut by 10 3/4 lengths for trainer David Dotalo. Dancing Spirit, the winner of an open maiden special weight on turf at Saratoga, cuts back in distance after finishing third in the off-turf P.G. Johnson Stakes.
Jody’s Ruby beat four of these when winning the Miss Blue Tye Dye Stakes on Aug. 21.
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