Last year's Eclipse Award winning trainer and jockey – Todd Pletcher and Irad Ortiz, Jr, respectively – combined to register an impressive win by Major Dude in the $400,000 Grade 2 Penn Mile on Friday, June 2 at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.
The three-year-old son of Bolt d'Oro, owned by Spendthrift Farms, LLC, won by three-quarters of a length as the odds-on favorite in the field of eight. Behind Enemy Lines was second and 93-1 longshot Fletcher was third. The time 1:33.77 was the fastest ever edition of the Penn Mile since its inception in 2013. The win was Pletcher's first wub in the Penn Mile and Ortiz's second (he won with Frostmourne in 2017.) Major Dude has now won four times (three in graded stakes) in ten lifetime starts.
For the second straight year the Penn Mile night set an all-time wagering record at Penn National. A total of $4,568,856 was wagered on the 11-race card. On-track wagering was up 20 percent from last year's event.
“This event continues to grow and we are grateful for the support both locally and on the national level for this race and the supporting races on the card,” said Eric Johnston, Director of Racing for Penn National. “There was a great atmosphere with our on-track crowd and the betting public responded with another record handle,” he added.
Five other stakes anchored the evening led by Malleymoo, the upset winner of the $150,000 Penn Oaks. Four $100,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-bred horses rounded out the stakes events: Heartyconstitution won the $100,000 Lyphard Stakes; By Land And See won the $100,000 With Anticipation Stakes for the second straight year and was timed just .07 off both the track and world record for one and one-sixteenths mile on the turf; Gordian Knot was an easy winner of the $100,000 Danzig Stakes and Late Frost won her first start of 2023 in the $100,000 New Start Stakes.
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