Parx: You're to Blame looks fastest in allowance feature

It may not be as perfect a storm as the one that hammered the Northeast on Thursday, but Saturday’s eighth race at Parx has lured horses from the barns of Tom Albertrani, Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, and Jeremiah Engelhart. The New York contingent will line up in posts 3-6 for a first-level optional $50,000 claimer for 3-year-olds.

You’re to Blame, trained by Brown, is the horse to beat. He followed up a Belmont Park maiden score in October with a fifth-place finish to Mo Town in the Grade 2 Remsen. He has worked seven times since that Thanksgiving weekend stakes, and his Beyer Speed Figures are significantly higher than his chief rivals in this seven-furlong race.

Local rider Jorge Vargas Jr. has the mount.

Pletcher’s entrant, Thirst for Victory, is eligible to take a step forward while making only his third start. A three-length debut winner at Saratoga, he finished fifth in the Champagne in his lone other outing. He didn’t work for two months following the Oct. 8 Champagne but has breezed seven times since Dec. 11.

Parx-based John Bisono will be aboard.

The Walk, who races for Albertrani, will be making his second trip to Parx. He finished second in the Chris Elser Memorial in November to O Dionysus, who has since finished second by a nose to recent Holy Bull winner Irish War Cry in the Marylander and second by a half-length in the Frank Whiteley Jr., both at Laurel Park.

Dylan Davis will be in from New York to ride The Walk. He also has a ride in race 6.

◗ The fourth race on the card is a one-mile maiden test for 3-year-old fillies. Pletcher sends in likely favorite Thirstforthecup, who was second to Tiz Rude at Parx on Jan 16. It should be noted that it took Tiz Rude six starts to become a winner.

Lift Up has a good chance to post a mild upset for trainer Michael Dickinson. She missed by a nose to Sine Wave in her Laurel Park debut, and Sine Wave returned to romp by 7 3/4 lengths in a Parx optional claimer last Saturday.

In her second start, Lift Up finished second by 5 1/4 lengths to second-time starter Forever Liesl, who just missed in her Aqueduct debut for trainer Michelle Nevin.