Five months after they debuted in the same maiden race at Keeneland, Saudi Crown and Magic Tap will both be in search of their first stakes win when they meet again in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing. The Pennsylvania Derby, run at 1 1/8 miles, is the last Grade 1 route race restricted to 3-year-olds run this year. Still, it only drew two graded winners – Reincarnate and Il Miracolo – in a field of 11. Saudi Crown soundly defeated Magic Tap in that 6 1/2-furlong race on April 23 at Keeneland. Saudi Crown came back to win an allowance and was beaten a nose in both the Grade 3 Dwyer, by Fort Bragg, and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, by Forte, last year’s juvenile champion. Magic Tap, beaten 12 3/4 lengths by Saudi Crown on debut, has two wins and a second since being stretched out in distance by trainer Steve Asmussen. On Aug. 13 at Saratoga, he won a first-level allowance race going the Pennsylvania Derby distance of 1 1/8 miles when he wore down a loose-on-the-lead Film Star, who has come back to win two allowance races on the New York Racing Association circuit. Asmussen liked the fact Magic Tap was successful sitting off another horse, something he will likely have to do Saturday. “He sat off one the other day successfully and wore that horse down at a mile and an eighth at a solid clip,” Asmussen said. “I’m hoping for a similar scenario.” Magic Tap will break from post 4 under Tyler Gaffalione. After winning two sprint races to begin his career, Saudi Crown stretched out to a one-turn mile in the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont and made all the pace before being run down by Fort Bragg. Brad Cox, the trainer of Saudi Crown, said the long-term goal after that race became the Pennsylvania Derby, though it was unclear how he would get there. The decision was made to run in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, where Saudi Crown proved to be the lone speed in a field that included Forte, last year’s 2-year-old champion, and Angel of Empire, the Cox-trained beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby. Saudi Crown again made all the pace before being nosed out by Forte. :: Bet the races with a $250 First Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Cox felt it was a strong effort, considering it was Saudi Crown’s “first time going two turns, first time going a mile and an eighth. He’s still somewhat lightly raced with a tremendous amount of talent. “I don’t want to change anything we’ve done up to this point,” Cox added. “I think he has a nice race record. He’s a couple of noses away from being undefeated. Hopefully, he can get back in the win column Saturday.” The Jim Dandy was run over a sloppy track, conditions that could come into play Saturday. Still, it would appear that Saudi Crown will have company on the front end, especially with Reincarnate having drawn post 11, meaning Juan Hernandez will likely have to ask his horse away from the gate to establish position. Reincarnate, trained by four-time Pennsylvania Derby winner Bob Baffert, is a two-time graded stakes winner. He won both the Grade 3 Sham in January and the listed Los Alamitos Derby in July in front-running fashion. Both races had small fields. In his lone try over a wet surface, Reincarnate finished third in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Scotland, trained by Bill Mott, won the Curlin Stakes at 1 1/8 miles in front-running fashion. He set the pace in the Travers, but ultimately finished sixth, 10 1/4 lengths behind Arcangelo. “We’re back to a more favorable distance,” Mott said. “Sometimes those horses have got to go war to get that experience, I guess.” In 2019, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. won his first graded stakes when Math Wizard upset the Pennsylvania Derby at odds of 31-1. Saturday, he’ll send out West Coast Cowboy, who comes in off a second-place finish to Red Route One in the West Virginia Derby on Aug. 6. West Coast Cowboy also was entered in Saturday’s Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, but will run at Parx, in part because it’s an easier ship from Saratoga, where the horse has been training. “On paper, he needs to improve,” Joseph said. ”His best race up to this point is not good enough to win.” Il Miracolo won the Grade 3 Smarty Jones, the local prep for this race, on Aug. 22. He was bearing out late under jockey Luis Saez, who will miss this assignment due to injury. Mychel Sanchez, Parx’s leading rider, has picked up the mount on Il Miracolo, who breaks from post 10. Gilmore comes off a win in a first-level allowance going a mile at Saratoga. This race represents his first two-turn start on dirt since he won a maiden race going a mile at Los Alamitos last November. Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out the uncoupled pair of Crupi and Dreamlike. Crupi, after running ninth in the Wood Memorial as a maiden, has won his last two starts. Paco Loepz, aboard for the maiden win on July 7, has the call. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Dreamlike, who will have the blinkers removed from his equipment. Parx-based runners Daydreaming Boy and Modern Era complete the field. The Pennsylvania Derby goes as race 13 on a 14-race card that begins at 11:35 a.m. and has 10 stakes, including the Grade 1 Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies. – additional reporting by Mike Welsch :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.