Reid bats .500 in four statebred stakes at Parx
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The trainer Butch Reid came into Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races on Saturday at Parx Racing with a legitimate chance to win all four $100,000 Pennsylvania-bred stakes races on the card. In horse racing, a 50 percent strike rate is not bad.
After the Reid-trained Maximus Meridius held on by a neck to win the Banjo Picker, Reid made it two straight with Ponder and Dream, a runaway winner in the Lil E. Tee Stakes. But Uncle Heavy came up two lengths short of odds-on favorite Bartlett in the Storm Cat, and 11-10 favorite Carmelina threw a dud in the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial, won in wire-to-wire fashion by Nature’s Candy.
Ponder and Dream, on the eye test, scored the most impressive win in the four stakes, albeit against squishy, age-restricted competition in the Lil E. Tee. Ponder and Dream, Mychel Sanchez aboard, broke on top from post 1 and never came close to being headed, opening up in the homestretch and jogging home a 14 3/4-length winner over Mister Me, who was well clear of third-place Our Notion.
Reid said Ponder and Dream had shipped poorly last month to Delaware Park, and that considering the horse’s unprofessional behavior, Ponder and Dream had done well to only lose the $300,000 Delaware Derby by about 10 lengths. In his previous start, Ponder and Dream had aced his two-turn debut, and, running out of his own stall Saturday, that’s the horse he looked like again in the Lil E. Tee.
Ponder and Dream paid $3.40 to win and ran one mile and 70 yards over a fast track in 1:43.28. By Uncle Lino out of Spanky, by To Honor and Serve, Ponder and Dream races for his breeder, Craig Harris, and Glen Bennett. Off this performance, Ponder and Dream would probably prove a worthy entrant facing open company again in the Smarty Jones on Aug. 18 at Parx.
Maximus Meridius, meanwhile, was all out to hold clear late-running Houghton Shuffle in the six-furlong Banjo Picker, his first start since February. Maximus Meridius ($4.20), Sanchez aboard, hooked up on a protracted speed duel with Winning Time, put his pace rival away, and ran bravely to the wire while understandably tiring the final half-furlong. Crab Daddy finished a well-beaten third as Maximus Meridius was clocked in 1:10.66.
Reid trains Maximus Meridius, a 5-year-old, for LC Racing and Wellesley Stable, and the gelding, by Maximus Mischief out of the Quiet American mare Quiet Virtue, won for the ninth time in 23 starts.
Bartlett got a perfect pressing trip at odds of 3-5 in the Storm Cat, took over in upper stretch, and carried a five-length lead to the furlong grounds. Going around the second turn in this dirt route, Uncle Heavy launched a sustained run from a distant last, closing steadily on Bartlett but running out of ground while easily second best over Gordian Knot. John Servis trains Bartlett for his breeder, Newell Thoroughbreds, and 4-year-old Bartlett, a son of Not This Time and the Smarty Jones mare Brilliant Sunshine, now has seven wins from 15 outings.
In the Garofalo Memorial, jockey Andy Hernandez took full advantage of Nature’s Candy’s rail draw, setting sail for the lead, quickly going clear, and maintaining a clear advantage throughout this seven-furlong contest. Heavily favored Carmelina never moved on the leader and faded in the final furlong to check in fifth, with Foxy Junior second, 2 1/4 lengths behind the winner and 3 3/4 lengths in front of third-place Icona Mama.
Trainer Hugo Padilla cut back 6-year-old Nature’s Candy to seven furlongs after two routes to start the mare’s campaign, and Nature’s Candy responded with one of her best races. The daughter of Uncle Lino and Easter Blossom, by Speightstown, campaigns for Freedom Racing.
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