Stakes triple-header kicks off Pennsylvania Derby weekend
?q=100)
Ninetyprcentmaddie might have run his best race many moons ago, but a change in approach could breathe new life into the 5-year-old gelding in the Storm Cat Stakes at Parx Racing on Friday. For the first time since November, Butch Reid will stretch him out to a route, revisiting old suspicions the trainer had during Ninetyprcentmaddie’s 3-year-old campaign.
“We thought that was going to be his future,” Reid said. “Then, as fate would have it, we turned him back and did a couple sprint races where he ran against the best in the country and more than held his own. Got away from the plan a little bit, but it looks like it’s time to shake things up a little bit.”
The Storm Cat is one of three $100,000 stakes on the Friday card at Parx, an 11-race prelude to the massive 15-race card assembled for the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Saturday.
After three straight finishes in the money in graded stakes last year, Ninetyprcentmaddie returned to Parx and has stayed home for more than a year. His only victory beyond a mile came in the $75,000 City of Brotherly Love in March 2023, though he ran in several longer preps for the Triple Crown that year.
“We’re putting a set of blinkers on him and trying him two turns, which he’s done successfully in the past but hasn’t done in a while,” Reid said.
Wild Vine, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Jamie Ness, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite coming out of open-company allowances at Delaware Park and Parx. Though he has not won in two starts following a short layoff, he finished close behind stakes winners Offaly Cool and Adero while earning matching 93 Beyer Speed Figures.
Trainer Lou Linder Jr. said that he was so impressed by the quality of the statebred field that he was leaning toward scratching Far Mo Power. The 7-year-old gelding is cross-entered in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile on Saturday.
Imply Stakes
Honorable Win, a 3-year-old filly trained by Kathleen DeMasi, will make her first start on dirt as a 3-year-old in the Imply Stakes. She will be returning to her home track after excursions to test different surfaces at Presque Isle Downs and Delaware Park.
Greg DeMasi, DeMasi’s husband and partner in Pewter Stable, said that the filly should improve in her first start on dirt in nearly 10 months. She is the 3–1 morning-line second choice in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies.
“She trains like she’s a nice filly,” DeMasi said. “We tried her on the turf thinking she might like the turf, but clearly she didn’t. I think it’s logical to run her back to the dirt and see what she does here.”
After two stakes victories on dirt at Parx last year, the filly returned on synthetic in July and finished fifth in the $75,000 Malvern Rose at Presque Isle before shipping to Delaware for her turf debut in a conditioned allowance. It was her first race in open company and she went off at 23-1 odds, but DeMasi said that the surface was to blame for her eighth-place finish.
Double Airo, the 9-5 favorite trained by Robert Bailes, has run in statebred allowances at three Pennsylvania tracks since May and has not finished out of the money in four starts. She won her last age-restricted race at Laurel Park in April.
Prince Lucky Stakes
If trainer Brandon Kulp has his way in the Prince Lucky Stakes, 3-year-old geldings Ballad of Warrior and The Boy’s Warrior will be battling for the lead near the wire. He can only hope that they aren’t quite as close out of the gate.
“I think we’re going to break running and get forwardly positioned with both of them,” Kulp said. “Obviously don’t want to go head-to-head and duel yourself. Plan would be to send [The Boy’s Warrior] and sit [Ballad of Warrior] just off the pace.”
:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!
Kulp entered Ballad of Warrior and The Boy’s Warrior together last time out as well, when both runners stayed home at Penn National to try the turf in the $75,000 Crowd Pleaser. The trainer concluded that neither runner prefers the surface, though The Boy’s Warrior took the early lead and ran on well to finish third.
Ballad of Warrior could give him more company this time, as he has shown far more early speed on dirt than other surfaces. Based on the likely pace scenario, however, Ballad of Warrior will probably benefit from a stalking trip. In six starts on dirt, he has only finished out of the money once.
Trainer Bernie Houghton also entered two geldings in the seven-furlong sprint and drew the two outside posts. Like Kulp’s pair, Come Prima and Silhouette Cave also squared off in their last start, earning a one-two finish for Houghton in an allowance at Parx.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.