Valid favored to end skid in Turning for Home

Valid hasn’t won in his last four starts but has been running hard and will be favored to get back on track in the $75,000 Turning for Home Stakes at Parx Racing on Saturday.

Valid has been second-best in his last two races. On May 23, Red Vine beat him two lengths in the mile-and-70-yard Majestic Light Stakes at Monmouth Park. It was eight lengths farther back to the third-place finisher. Red Vine is 3 for 3 for trainer Christophe Clement since being switched from turf to dirt.

On May 2, Valid was beaten a neck in a seven-furlong, no-conditions allowance at Parx. It was five lengths farther back to Bowman’s Beast in third. Bowman’s Beast is entered in the mile-and-70-yard Turning for Home.

Valid is based at Monmouth with trainer Marcus Vitali. He will be ridden Saturday by Tammi Piermarini, who ranks third all time in wins among women riders in North America and is a five-time leading rider at Suffolk Downs.

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Vitali also has deep New England roots. Before leaving Suffolk after the 2012 season, he had won more than 400 races at the Boston track.

Valid has good early speed and will be prominent from the beginning of the Turning for Home from post 1, which at 17 percent is the winningest post by a slim margin at Parx this year in races at a mile or longer on the main track.

KEY CONTENDERS

Valid (Last 3 Beyers: 102-98-88)

◗ Valid won the Grade 3 Fred Hooper at Gulfstream Park in February. In his next start, he finished third, beaten a length, in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Honor Code won that race by a half-length over Private Zone.

◗ There is other speed in the Turning for Home field, and Valid must avoid getting caught up in a pace battle with Very Lucky, Bowman’s Beast, and Adaptor.

Old Time Hockey (Last 3 Beyers: 87-93-95)

◗ Trained at Fair Hill by Tom Proctor, he will be making his first start since winning the Florida Cup Turf Classic at Tampa Bay Downs by a neck April 4.

◗ A deep closer, he would benefit if a pace duel develops.

Adirondack King (Last 3 Beyers: 83-90-77)

◗ Now 6, he is always dangerous at his home base of Parx, where he is 6 for 14. He is 0 for 20 elsewhere.

◗ In his last start at Parx – four races back last December – the John Servis trainee finished in a dead heat for the win in the Auld Lang Syne at 6-1 with Sailor’s Revenge, who is also in the Turning for Home lineup.

Lucky Lotto (Last 3 Beyers: 99-92-83)

◗ He has been racing in high-level optional-claiming company in New York for trainer Edward Barker.

◗ He should get a good stalking trip here.

Adaptor (Last 3 Beyers: 86-89-94)

◗ Has won three races in a row for trainer Ramon Preciado, who claimed him for $12,500 at Gulfstream in February.