Parx: Adirondack King holds slim edge in deep money allowance

It’s going to take a big Beyer Speed Figure to win Monday’s $50,000 feature at Parx Racing. Of the nine horses entered to go seven furlongs in the money allowance, six show a Beyer between 92 and 99 within their three most recent starts.

The prime contenders include Adirondack King, who defeated similar company in each of his last two races; New York shipper Moments Notiz, who has six wins and a close second in his last seven starts; and Tujoes, a 2013 stakes winner going seven furlongs and part of an uncoupled entry for leading trainer Phil Aristone.

It’s difficult to knock the 5-year-old gelding Adirondack King. He was hand-ridden to a 4 1/2-length victory going a mile Dec. 1 and then came back on New Year’s Eve to win again sprinting seven furlongs, this time finding room along the rail in deep stretch to draw clear by 1 1/4 lengths while earning a career-best 99 Beyer. He is trained by John Servis.

David Jacobson brings in Moments Notiz from Aqueduct, where the 6-year-old won three times since Dec. 26, posting a 96 Beyer on Dec. 31. He has never raced beyond six furlongs on dirt but did finish second going 6 1/2 furlongs on Polytrack.

A bigger concern is Jacobson’s record with horses who have raced recently shipping into Parx. Although Jacobson is 5 for 22 (23 percent) with all his runners at Parx over the past three years, that percentage drops to 8 percent (1 for 13) with those who ran within 30 days before their Parx race. That group includes four horses who lost at odds of less than even-money.

Tujoes won the seven-furlong Lyman Handicap for Pennsylvania-breds last April but raced just three more times in 2013. He was hard-used battling for the lead in last month’s race won by Adirondack King. He may move forward while making the second start of his current form cycle.

Aristone is 4 for his last 14 (29 percent) in that category with sprinters in races contested at 6 1/2 to seven furlongs.

Arlo, part of the exacta in 18 of 29 starts locally, was in front at the eighth pole as the 2-1 favorite Dec. 31 and held well to finish second with a 96 Beyer.

Fire Alarm makes his first start off the claim for Aristone while cutting back following a pair of in-the-money finishes going a mile.