Ninetyprcentmaddie bounces back in City of Brotherly Love, one of four Monday stakes
Ninetyprcentmaddie bounced back from a disappointing performance with a facile front-running win traveling a mile 70 yards in Monday’s City of Brotherly Love Stakes at Parx.
The City of Brotherly Love was one of four $75,000 stakes for 3-year-olds on the card along with the Rittenhouse Square at 6 1/2 furlongs, the Main Line for fillies at a mile and 70 yards, and the Society Hill for fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Ninetyprcentmaddie, racing with Lasix for the first time, went straight to the front from his inside post position and controlled the pace throughout under jockey Paco Lopez.
He set fractions of 23.42, 48.77, and 1:14.58, drew away from primary pace pursuer Blue Royal turning into the stretch, then had plenty left despite failing to change leads.
Ninetyprcentmaddie completed the distance in 1:44.57 while 9 3/4 lengths better than Time to Cruise and returned $2.40 as the prohibitive favorite. Blue Royal finished another head behind in third. Then came Upstate and Back, Runnin Joke, and Jackson Road. Fort Warren and Abker were scratched.
“It was a race that didn’t have a ton of early speed,” trainer Butch Reid said in a phone interview. “He got away clean, and Paco did a good job nursing him along. He’s a horse all along that I’ve felt was a two-turn horse.”
Foaled in Pennsylvania, Ninetyprcentmaddie is a homebred by Weigelia owned by LC Racing Stable. The colt won his first three starts, including the Whistle Pig Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds at 5 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 22.
After finishing fourth in the Pennsylvania Nursery on Nov. 29, Ninetyprcentmaddie finished second in the Parx Juvenile over sloppy going Jan. 3. That race led Reid to try Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 11, but the race was a disaster with Ninetyprcentmaddie running last of seven, 56 lengths behind the winner.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened in the Withers, but I’m glad he put it behind him and showed what he’s made of today,” Reid said.
Ninetyprcentmaddie is a full brother to multiple stakes-placed dirt performer Ninetypercentbrynn. They are both out of Amblin Easy, a multiple stakes-placed router by Private Interview.
Main Line Stakes
Social Success ($15) earned her third consecutive victory with a gate-to-wire score in the Main Line.
Ridden by Frankie Pennington for trainer Bruce Kravets, Social Success set the pace outside of Gold Medal Anna through tepid fractions of 24.66, 49.44, and 1:14.84 seconds.
Social Success drifted out slightly turning into the lane, then battled back outside of both Girl Trouble and Gold Medal Anna to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths in 1:46.76.
Gold Medal Anna fought along the rail to nip Girl Trouble by a nose for second. It was a whopping 15 1/4 lengths back to Girlfromouterspace in third. Then came Sally’s Sassy and slow-starting Majestic Creed. Iyiyi was scratched.
Multiple stakes-winner Girl Trouble, sent off the heavy 1-5 favorite after a runner-up try in Aqueduct’s Ruthless on Feb. 5, did not have a clean trip.
Expected to be the controlling speed stretching out in distance and breaking from the rail, she was conservatively handled by Lopez going into the first turn and settled in third on the backstretch.
Instead of swinging Girl Trouble into the clear for the stretch drive, Lopez opted to split horses and was forced in tight between Social Success and Gold Medal Anna.
“It was a very difficult trip,” Reid said. “Paco even apologized for it before [the City of Brotherly Love].”
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The Main Line was Social Success’s first start at Parx after three runs at Kravets’s Penn National base. After finishing fifth in her debut on Dec. 21, Social Success graduated against statebreds on Jan. 20. In her first start against winners, and first around two turns, she nabbed a two-lifetime allowance on Feb. 10.
Social Success is a homebred owned by Shirley Lojeski. She is by Social Inclusion and is a half-sister to stakes-placed dirt sprinter Just a Thought.
Society Hill Stakes
Slowly, but surely, Tappin Josie ($5.20) is figuring this game out.
Known as a bit of a rogue earlier in her career when trained by both John Robb and Brittany Russell, Tappin Josie has taken leaps forward since turning 3.
She nailed down her third straight victory with a game three-quarter-length win over pacesetting favorite Chickieness in the Society Hill.
Tappin Josie settled three wide under jockey Kevin Gomez as speedy Chickieness controlled splits of 22.57 and 46.52. Tappin Josie collared Chickieness in upper stretch, then seemed to wait on horses while clearly in front.
Once Chickieness reengaged Tappin Josie, however, the winner re-rallied and spurted clear again. She finished the distance in 1:19.88. Broadwaycharlyrose was 1 1/4 lengths behind Chickieness in third. Then came Empress Ariana, Dream Chaser, and Creative Copy. Hot Little Thing was scratched.
Tappin Josie won her second start for Robb at Delaware Park on June 15, then finished second in a first-level allowance there Aug. 10 despite drifting in and flashing her tail during the stretch.
She was fourth three weeks later in her stakes debut, Delaware’s Blue Hen Stakes, after acting up behind the gate. Entered in a first-level allowance at Laurel Park the following month, Tappin Josie finished 4 3/4 lengths in front, but was disqualified and placed third for drifting in and impeding another foe.
Claimed by Russell for $62,500 out of a subsequent victory on Nov. 14, Tappin Josie was bet down to 5-2 for the Gin Talking at Laurel on Dec. 30. Tappin Josie made a wide bid into contention at the quarter pole, but bolted and lost all chance.
She rebounded with an authoritative win for $50,000 on Jan. 20 despite drifting out terribly in the stretch and was claimed that day by trainer Horacio De Paz for owner Darryl Abamowitz.
Tappin Josie seemed much more professional in her first start for De Paz as she knifed her way in between horses to win a first-level allowance at Laurel on Feb. 11.
Bred in Pennsylvania by Charles Blanford, Tappin Josie has won half of her 10 starts for career earnings of $200,200. She is by Anchor Down out of multiple stakes winner Homemaker and is a half-sister to stakes-winning dirt miler Mischievous Mama and stakes-placed dirt router B Three.
Rittenhouse Square Stakes
No Confession ($9.80) made his stakes debut a winning one in the Rittenhouse Square.
Ridden by Anthony Nunez for trainer Linda Simon and owner Kingdom Racing, No Confession rated behind favored Prove Right as that one rattled off fractions of 22.83 and 46.35, advanced under confident handling on the turn, then drove by to prevail by four lengths in 1:19.27.
Prove Right held the place, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Praetorian Guard. All Eyes On You, John Dutton, and El de Chimi completed the order of finish. Belt Parkway, On the Mark and Recruiter were scratched.
A colt by multiple champion sire Into Mischief out of stakes-winning dirt router Ready to Confess, No Confession was bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud. His second dam, Confessional, won 12 of 23 starts, including the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park in 1998, while earning $827,638.
No Confession sold for $30,000 as a yearling and raced seven times last year without success. He graduated by 10 1/2 lengths in his first start of 2023, a maiden special weight at Parx over sloppy going on Jan. 3.
In his final start before the Rittenhouse Square, No Confession captured a two-lifetime allowance at Parx on Jan. 23. He was trained by Rafael Schistl for his three starts prior to Monday’s stakes victory.
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