Twisted Ride guts it out to take Page McKenney Stakes
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Late last week, trainer Michael Moore marveled at Twisted Ride's determination.
“He’s a tough horse,” Moore told Daily Racing Form. “When he gets in front and he duels, he doesn’t give it up."
Moore's words were prophetic as Twisted Ride found just enough in the tank to hold off Uncle Ernie to win the Page McKenney Stakes at Parx Racing on Monday.
The Page McKenney was one of two $100,000 stakes on the card for Pennsylvania-breds at seven furlongs, along with the Unique Bella for fillies and mares.
Twisted Ride broke right to the front and battled for the early lead inside of favored Uncle Ernie and a three-wide Smooth B through fractions of 23.15 and 46.43 seconds.
“The plan was being down inside you had to send,” Moore said by telephone after the race. “We had to see what Uncle Ernie was going to do because he’s so speedy.”
Twisted Ride seemingly shrugged free of his pace pursuers turning into the stretch, but he shortened stride at the eighth pole. Jockey Andy Hernandez urged Twisted Ride along, and they held off a resurgent Uncle Ernie by a nose in 1:25.81. Twisted Ride returned $14.60 as the fifth choice in the eight-horse field.
Beren finished third, three-quarters of a length behind Uncle Ernie. Then came Prince of Rain, Witty, Market Maven, Smooth B, and Classy American. Far Mo Power was scratched.
“They take their shots at him, and he keeps on going,” Moore said. “To me, late in the race, he was waiting for somebody to be near him because he lost some of his momentum.”
Twisted Ride was bred in Pennsylvania by Kasey K Racing Stable. A 4-year-old gelding by Great Notion, Twisted Ride is a full brother to stakes-winning dirt router Goodonehoney.
He is owned by Kasey K in partnership with James Day and Final Turn Racing Stable. He has won half of his 14 starts for earnings of $349,378.
Twisted Ride has now won four consecutive races for Moore, including the Fishtown at Parx on March 7. His previous stakes victory came in last year’s City of Brotherly Love at Parx going 1 1/16 miles. Twisted Ride was conditioned by trainer Kate DeMasi for the City of Brotherly Love.
Unique Bella Stakes
Morning Matcha showed no rust returning from a 150-day layoff when upsetting stablemate Disco Ebo in the Unique Bella.
A stakes-winning daughter of Central Banker, Morning Matcha exploded into form during the second half of 2022. She finished second at odds of 48-1 in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 24, then ran third in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Comely on Nov. 25.
Both of those races came around two turns, however, and Morning Matcha entered the Unique Bella with a 1-for-7 record sprinting.
Not only did Morning Matcha have to overcome the five-month layoff and the shorter distance, but she faced a sharp sprinter.
Disco Ebo had captured five of her last six starts, including the Penn's Landing at Parx on March 7.
Unsurprisingly, Disco Ebo jumped to the lead, and she set fractions of 23.82 and 47.15 seconds while racing slightly off the inside under jockey Frankie Pennington.
Morning Matcha tracked the pace along the fence under Paco Lopez, eased outside the leader turning for home, then didn't have any problems running down Disco Ebo while racing on her left lead to prevail by two lengths in 1:25.32 seconds.
Morning Matcha, the 128-pound co-highweight, returned $5.60 as the second choice in the betting.
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Disco Ebo, who might be more effective at six furlongs, finished 8 1/4 lengths ahead of Ninetypercentbrynn as trainer Butch Reid and owner LC Racing swept the top three spots in the four-horse field.
Trolley Ride completed the order of finish. Heartyconstitution, Mia Tosca, and Golden Tabby were scratched.
Bred in Pennsylvania by Crane Thoroughbred Services, 4-year-old Morning Matcha was purchased for $18,000 as a yearling, and is owned in partnership by LC Racing, Cash Is King LLC, and Gary Barber.
She has won 5 of 18 starts for lifetime earnings of $713,390. Her previous stakes victory came in last year's Main Line traveling a mile 70 yards at Parx.
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