Ucan’tcme back on short rest for Pennsylvania Nursery

After dominating three foes in a restricted stakes less than two weeks ago, the 2-year-old colt Ucan’tcme will wheel right back to face 11 other Pennsylvania-bred juveniles in Saturday’s $75,000 Pennslvania Nursery, the last stakes of the season at Parx Racing.

Trained by Ramon Preciado, Ucan’tcme needed four starts to clear his maiden condition, scoring by four lengths against open special weight company and earning a solid 83 Beyer Speed Figure. A month later, Ucan’tcme ran an even more powerful race, leading wire to wire to draw off by 5 3/4 lengths in the 6 1/2-furlong Chris Elser Memorial, a race restricted to horses who spent at least 90 days in South Carolina. He earned an 89 Beyer, the best in Saturday’s field, for his latest win.

The only question is whether he can run that well again going seven furlongs on relatively short rest. Preciaco is 0 for 5 with 2-year-olds he has brought back in 14 days or less the last five years.

The only other two-time winner in the field is Lucky Lewis, a deep closer who has won back-to-back starts going six furlongs, defeating maidens at Penn National and first-level allowance foes at Parx a month ago.

The Penn National-based Der Meister would be dangerous if he can duplicate the front-end performance he gave two starts ago when he won his maiden going five furlongs at Parx, earning an 87 Beyer. Last time out, Der Meister got burned out in a speed duel in which the first half-mile went in 44.58 seconds.

Trade Secrets faces winners for the first time after romping by nearly 12 lengths against statebred maiden special weight company at Penn National three weeks ago. He has retained his sharpness, based on a four-furlong bullet in 48 seconds on Monday.

The intriguing unknown horse is first-time starter Mr. Valentine. Purchased at the OBS 2-year-olds in training sale in March for $110,000 – more than 10 times the stud fee of his sire Jump Start – Mr. Valentine has been training steadily for his career debut at Monmouth. Although trainer Jason Servis is a respectable 13 percent with first-time starters the past two seasons, he is 0 for 3 with runners making their career debut at distances between 6 1/2 and seven furlongs.