Pure Sensation up against outside post

The Smarty Jones undercard at Parx Racing on Labor Day has been strengthened this year and includes six stakes, including the Grade 3, $300,000 Turf Monster, which will live up to its name with Pure Sensation a member of the 12-horse lineup.

The other undercard stakes are the $150,000 Cathryn Sophia for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and 70 yards, and four $100,000 stakes that form the fourth leg of this year’s five-leg MATCH Series, which will conclude Sept. 28 at Monmouth Park.

Pure Sensation has been a tough customer throughout his seven-year career while being expertly handled by Christophe Clement, but he truly has been a monster over the Parx turf, where he is 6 for 7. His only local turf loss came when he finished third last year in the Grade 3 Parx Dash, a race he won in 2016, 2017, and again this season. He will be shooting for his fourth score in the Turf Monster, which he won in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

But at age 8, Purse Sensation isn’t scaring off the competition, and he will not only face 11 rivals in the five-furlong race but will have to do so from post 11. To succeed, he will likely have to clear the field before reaching the far turn, which will not be easy with the speedy Rocket Heat drawn just to his inside in post 10.

Paco Lopez will surely send Pure Sensation hard. He should get the firm course condition he prefers, with dry weather in the forecast.

Other contenders include Justaholic, who finished second to Extravagant Kid in the Da Hoss Stakes on Aug. 17 at Colonial Downs, and Dubini, who has not won in a long time but is seldom far away at the finish.

An outsider to consider is Texas Wedge, who trainer Peter Miller has sent in from Kentucky along with Gray Magician, the likely Smarty Jones favorite. Texas Wedge is 3 for 9 in his career and coming off a second on dirt at Ellis Park to the 4-for-7 Brad Cox-trained sprinter Curate.

“He’s a very talented horse,” Miller said of Texas Wedge. “It might look like we’re reaching with him in here, but we’ve always thought a lot of him. He could end up sitting a good trip and hit the board.”

Here us a quick look at the other undercard races.

◗ Roamin Rachel: Bronx Beauty and Ms Locust Point, who have battled and finished first and second in the last two legs of the filly and mare dirt sprint division of the MATCH Series, will meet again. The six-furlong race also includes Chalon, who in her last two races has finished second in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga and third in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses at Belmont Park.

◗ Bensalem: Midtowncharlybrown and Midnightcharly will race as an Eddie Coletti Jr.-trained entry for the fourth straight time. Midtowncharlybrown has won the Banjo Picker Sprint at Parx and the Chocolate Town Sprint at Penn National. Midnightcharly won the Lyman Handicap at Parx and finished third in the Chocolate Town and second in the Banjo Picker.

The six-furlong Bensalem also includes Laki, winner of the MATCH Series dirt sprint division in 2018, and The Man, who is 8 for 11 at Parx and 11 for 20 in his career.

Laki took the first leg of this year’s series, the Frank Whiteley Jr. at Laurel Park, before finishing a troubled fourth in the Chocolate Town.

The Man closed belatedly to be third, beaten a neck, in the Banjo Picker in his most recent start.

◗ PTHA President’s Cup: This 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares features Notapradaprice, who is coming off a 25-1 upset in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial on July 2 at Parx for John Servis, and Colonia, who will make the first start of her 4-year-old campaign for Graham Motion after winning the Grade 3 Valley View at Keeneland last fall.

The field also includes Theodora B., who is shortening in distance after running in graded turf marathons. She was second in the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial at Delaware Park in July.

◗ Nehasminy: Abiding Star is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in this 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-olds and up. The 6-year-old finished second in the Glasgow Stakes at Delaware – the third leg of the MATCH Series turf sprint division – in July.

◗ Cathryn Sophia: Fashion Faux Pas is the horse to beat following her runner-up finish to Jaywalk in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks. Prior to that race, the Arnaud Delacour trainee won the Light Hearted Stakes at Delaware by 14 1/2 lengths.

Queen of Beas, who is coming off a second-level optional-claiming win in the mud going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga for Jorge Abreu, could be Fashion Faux Pas’s strongest rival. She is 3 for 6 in her career.