Nimitz Class outruns Gunite late in Parx Dirt Mile

BENSALEM, PA - Nimitz Class torpedoed odds-on favorite Gunite in the final sixteenth of a mile to win Saturday’s $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile for 3-year-olds and upward.

The Parx Dirt Mile was a test to see if Gunite, one of the better sprinters in the country, could stretch his ability around two turns. After all, his trainer, Steve Asmussen, already has star filly Echo Zulu lined up to tackle males in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

Gunite seemingly ran his race, but the hard-hitting Nimitz Class was just a little better.

Mish controlled the tempo of the Parx Dirt Mile, setting uncontested fractions of 23.84 and 47.59 while being shadowed by Gunite. Nimitz Class saved ground on the backstretch behind the leaders, but jockey Paco Lopez angled to the far outside, and that might have recharged his mount somewhat.

Gunite turned up the pressure on Mish after six furlongs in 1:12.45 seconds, and seemed to travel very comfortably at that juncture, but Lopez had Nimitz Class surging on the favorite’s outside.

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Gunite made a short lead at the three-sixteenths pole, but it was short-lived as Nimitz Class ran by him to prevail by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:38.34 over the sloppy going. Mish held third, 4 1/4 lengths behind Gunite. Dr B, Civil War, and Dr Ardito completed the order of finish. Freedom Road scratched.

Nimitz Class (100 Beyer Speed Figure) paid $15 to win as the third choice in the betting.

“I think, in the beginning, we didn’t have quite enough speed to keep up with those two sprinters,” owner-breeder Tom Coulter said. “Once they got on the backside, he kept getting stronger. He was pulling the jockey to the front. He looked super.”

A multiple stakes winner last year as a 3-year-old, Nimitz Class has blossomed in 2023, winning five of eight races including three stakes at Laurel Park.

Although Nimitz Class entered the Parx Dirt Mile following three defeats, he ran well in all those runner-up efforts, including the Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth on June 17.

“We’ve had some tough times this summer,” Coulter said. “Today, all the conditions lined up for him.”

Coulter mentioned the natural concerns about this race including the step up in class and the fact that he gave weight to all but Dr Ardito, but “[Nimitz Class] didn’t have any concerns.”

Coulter credited trainer Bruce Kravets for Nimitz Class’s development into a stakes horse. “This horse has been in competition for two years without a break. At my home track of Penn National, there are a lot of good horse people up there that never get a chance. If you give them a good horse, they know what to do with it.”

Gunite went off as the 3-10 favorite partly based on his recent victory in the Grade 1 Forego traveling seven furlongs at Saratoga.

“He handled the track,” jockey Tyler Gaffalione said about Gunite. “I’m still not convinced that the mile is too far. It’s something about the two turns just doesn’t work with him. He traveled to the quarter pole in great form. I really thought we were going to go on and finish the job.”

Foaled in Pennsylvania, Nimitz Class is a Munnings colt that has won 11 of 20 starts for lifetime earnings of $709,980. He is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Kaylasaurus, another horse that Coulter bred under the Arrowwood Farm banner.

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