Parx Racing: Pennsylvania Derby, Cotillion set for Sept. 21

Parx Racing’s experiment of putting a pair of $1 million races on the same card worked out so well that the suburban Philadelphia track plans to do it again this year.

In a release announcing its major stakes schedule for 2013, Parx said the Grade 1 Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies and the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby for 3-year-olds will headline a card Sept. 21. In addition to the two $1 million races, the card will include the Grade 3, $300,000 Gallant Bob for 3-year-old sprinters.

Last fall, Parx’s total handle on the card anchored by the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion was $4.3 million.

Parx will offer 11 stakes for open company – eight of them graded events. A pair of $150,000 stakes, the My Juliet for female sprinters and the Jostle for 3-year-old fillies, were dropped from the schedule.

In addition, the Grade 3 Parx Sprint, a five-furlong event on grass, got a $50,000 purse boost to $200,000. That same $50,000 amount was taken from the Don LeVine Memorial, which is now worth $100,000.

Other highlights of the 2013 stakes schedule include two Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races run on Labor Day and Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races on Sept. 7. The Sept. 2 Win and You’re In races are the Grade 3, $200,000 Greenwood Cup and the Grade 3, $350,000 Turf Monster Handicap. They are part of a holiday card that also features the Grade 3, $350,000 Smarty Jones Stakes – which serves as a local prep for the Pennsylvania Derby – and the $200,000 Turf Amazon Handicap.

Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races features five $75,000 stakes for statebreds.

According to the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association website, Parx will present 11 stakes restricted to Pennsylvania-breds, one fewer than in 2012.