Ninetyprcentmaddie looks to bounce back in City of Brotherly Love Stakes
Butch Reid is perplexed as to why Ninetyprcentmaddie ran poorly in last month’s Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct.
The veteran trainer hopes that returning home to Parx Racing will help the Weigelia colt return to form in Monday’s City of Brotherly Love at a mile and 70 yards.
The City of Brotherly Love is one of four $75,000 stakes for 3-year-olds 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.
“The jock said he was making some funny noises down the backside and was never comfortable the whole way,” Reid said of Ninetyprcentmaddie’s Withers excursion. “He had a tongue tie on for the first time. It’s rare that they’ll fight it because he had trained and breezed in it. We checked him out and gave him a clean bit of health.”
A stakes winner sprinting last summer at Parx Racing, Ninetyprcentmaddie tried two turns for the first time in the Withers. Reid doesn’t believe the distance was a factor.
“I think he’s a natural route horse,” he said. Ninetyprcentmaddie is a full brother to the long-winded stakes-placed mare Ninetypercentbrynn.
Ninetyprcentmaddie gets Lasix, will wear the tongue tie again, and should show speed from his rail post.
Abker and Jackson Road both step up following maiden victories. Abker, trained by Jonathan Wong. stretches out after scoring by seven lengths on Valentine’s Day at Mahoning Valley.
Jackson Road sprinted three times last year at 2, but put it all together in his two-turn debut over muddy going Jan. 25 at Parx for Kate DeMasi.
Jackson Road breezed three furlongs in 33.60 seconds prior to being purchased for $49,000 at the OBS June sale last year, but DeMasi always felt the colt would want two turns, at least on the dirt.
She did opine that Jackson Road might wind up better on grass.
Runnin Joke, Blue Royal, Time to Cruise, and Upstate and Back complete the field.
Fort Warren is the morning-line favorite in the City of Brotherly Love, but was expected to contest Saturday’s Gotham at Aqueduct.
Main Line
Reid has the horse to beat in the Main Line with Girl Trouble, never off the board from eight starts and a multiple stakes winner sprinting over the Parx oval.
Second as the favorite in her most recent start, Aqueduct’s Ruthless Stakes on Feb. 5, Girl Trouble is 4-5 on the Main Line morning line.
“She gave a good account of herself,” Reid said of Girl Trouble’s Ruthless. “I thought maybe the pace was a hair slow the first part, but she tried hard and came out of it very well.”
Girl Trouble must navigate two turns for the first time since she finished a well-beaten third in Delaware’s White Clay Creek on Oct. 14.
“You always think about that,” Reid said. “If she can get a route of ground, we’ll find out on Monday.”
Girl Trouble projects as the speed from the rail.
Conversely, Reid’s other Main Line entrant is a proven commodity around two turns, albeit against weaker competition. Iyiyi enters following two gate-to-wire scores when entered for a claiming tag.
“She’s been a pleasant surprise,” Reid said. “She was always a little small and didn’t look like a ton when we first started out with her, but as the distances got longer, she really came to the fore.”
Social Success looks like a contender shipping from Penn National for trainer Bruce Kravets. The Social Inclusion filly captured her last two, including a nonwinners-of-two-lifetime allowance around two turns Feb. 10.
Sally’s Sassy, a stakes winner on synthetic and stakes-placed on turf at Golden Gate last year, finished fifth, beaten 18 lengths by Stonewall Star, making her dirt debut in Laurel’s Wide Country on Feb. 18.
Gold Medal Anna, twice stakes-placed behind Girl Trouble, adds Lasix. Majestic Creed and Girlfromouterspace also are expected.
◗ Recruiter would be heavily favored in the Rittenhouse Square, but the unbeaten colt seems likely to race in the Gotham.
That leaves the race wide open, with Grade 3-placed Prove Right a logical contender along with last-out winners John Dutton and No Confession. El de Chimi deserves consideration after chasing Recruiter over sloppy going Jan. 3.
◗ Chickieness has won or placed in five stakes from 10 lifetime starts, but she is no lock in a competitive edition of the Society Hill.
Empress Ariana earned a stakes placing in the Parx Futurity in her lone start of 2023 and gets Lasix and blinkers. Tappin Josie has won four of her last five at Laurel and seemed more professional capturing a first-level allowance in her first start following a Horacio De Paz claim. Hot Little Thing, a speedy Indiana-bred stakes winner, makes her first start since October for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.