Pa. Derby favorites draw outside

It's fairly common in harness racing for the racing secretary to assign the best horses to the far outside post positions in an attempt to create a more competitive race. That's not how it works in Thoroughbred racing, but it is how Lady Luck treated the two favorites on the track's morning line for Monday's $750,000 .

Sun King and Real Dandy drew the two outside stalls in Philadelphia Park's starting gate for the Grade 2 derby.

Ordinarily, that might not be too much of a problem. But the 1 1/8-mile stakes attracted a record field of 14 3-year-olds, meaning 2-1 favorite Sun King in post 14 and 9-2 second choice Real Dandy in post 13 will have their work cut out for them.

The largest field in Pennsylvania Derby history was 13 in 1985, a race won by Skip Trial.

Rarely does Philly Park conduct a two-turn race on the main track with more than 12 starters. Since 2000, there has been only one race with as many as 13 horses - and the runner marooned in post 13 didn't win.

Sun King, part of a Nick Zito-trained entry with Indy Storm, has been a new horse since adding blinkers. Racing on the lead, he won the Grade 3 Leonard Richards Stakes at Delaware Park and finished a close second to Roman Ruler in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

An outside post may not be as detrimental to Real Dandy, a deep closer. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Real Dandy passed 10 horses to win the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Race Track in his most recent start.

The only other graded stakes winner in the field is Southern Africa, who captured the Grade 3 Lone Star Derby in Texas during the spring. Trainer Michael Puhich has given Southern Africa two months off to regroup following poor performances in the Belmont Stakes and the Grade 3 Arlington Classic, a turf race.

Other contenders include Network, winner of four straight, including two minor stakes at Monmouth; Tani Maru, who romped by nearly 10 lengths and posted a career-high 98 Beyer Speed Figure in his first try over Philly Park's surface last month; It's Time to Smile, idle since finishing third in the Grade 2 Ohio Derby in July; and Anthony J., third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Real Dandy, in the West Virginia Derby.