Tightend Touchdown plays spoiler with longshot win in Parx Dash

Tightend Touchdown led a parade of longshots when pulling a 12-1 upset Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash Handicap at Parx Racing in suburban Philadelphia.

With leading jockey Frankie Pennington aboard for Mr. Amore Stable and trainer Jason Servis, Tightend Touchdown outfought the 51-1 shot Mongolian Saturday down the stretch to win by a head, paying $26.80 as fifth choice in a field of 11 older turf sprinters.

The Parx Dash was supposed to be a showdown between Power Alert, the 8-5 favorite, and the 9-year-old Ben’s Cat, the 9-5 second choice and a previous three-time winner of the Parx Dash (2012-13-14). But nothing of the sort developed as neither could make headway after dropping too far out of contention.

Instead, Tightend Touchdown gave closest chase to Bold Thunder, who seized the early lead from his rail post when going through a first quarter in a relatively soft 22.39 seconds. With Mongul Bull, a 43-1 shot, tucked neatly in behind them and Mongolian Saturday always well placed just to his outside, the two favorites lagged several lengths farther back with both forced to lose valuable ground when going wide approaching the stretch.

In the final furlong, as Bold Thunder tired nearest the rail, Tightend Touchdown forged ahead and just lasted under a steady drive, finishing in 57.19 seconds over a firm course. Mongul Bull was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third with Power Alert fourth and Ben’s Cat sixth.

Predictably, the exotics were huge: the $2 exacta (5-11) paid $954.40, the $1 trifecta (5-11-6) returned $5,672, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-11-6-9) was worth $2,519.39.

Tightend Touchdown, a 6-year-old Florida-bred gelding by Pure Precision, earned $120,000, lifting his career bankroll to $851,295. It was his 11th win in 31 career starts and his third in a stakes, following a pair of wins in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National (2013-14). Last year in the Parx Dash, he was the 5-2 favorite when beaten just a nose by Ben’s Cat. The chestnut gelding began his career in October 2011 when competing for a mere $12,500 claiming tag for breeder Chad Stewart.