Page McKenney wins stretch battle in Robellino
Page McKenney, racing on turf for the first time in 11 months, withstood bids from a pair of longshots to win Saturday night’s $75,000 Robellino Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds at Penn National.
The 5-year-old Page McKenney ($3.60) was part of a three-way battle in deep stretch of the 1 1/16-mile turf race with 13-1 shot Willy d’Rocket and 21-1 outsider Athelstane. Inside the eighth pole, Page McKenney shot clear under Horatio Karamanos to prevail by a half-length in 1:43.43.
Willy d’Rocket, who scratched out of the $60,000 Find Stakes at Laurel Park in favor of this spot, edged Athelstane by a neck for second.
It was the 12th win in 39 career starts for Page McKenney, who earlier this season won the John Campbell Handicap and Harrison Johnson Memorial at Laurel on the main track. He won last year’s Robellino when it was shifted from turf to dirt. A son of Eavesdropper, Page McKenney is trained by Mary Eppler for Adam Staple and raised his bankroll to $823,928.