Morris Kernan Jr., Yo Berb's Racing and Jagger Inc.'s Magic Michael used his home court advantage to earn his first stakes victory in the $200,000, Grade 3 Greenwood Cup on Saturday at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.
Trained by Jamie Ness, Magic Michael settled near the back o the field as Sea Foam set the pace through fractions of :24.82, :50.07 and 1:16.13. As Last Samurai overtook Sheer Flattery in the stretch, Magic Michael got there in the final strides to win by a neck.
“The longer I was sitting, the more he was wanting to go, and once I set him up and got him up to third, man he really took off,” said Frankie Pennington, who won his second race on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard. “He is very consistent, Jamie (Ness), does a great job with him, and I think the more distance the better with this horse and he was right on point.”
Magic Michael, who covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:32.01 and paid $11.00 to win, has now won 7-of-8 races at Parx for leading trainer Ness, who claimed the 4-year-old Dramedy gelding for $30,000 at Churchill Downs on Nov. 14, 2020.”
“You know, we are local. A big day. Took a little bit of a shot here but the horse seems to do well over this track,” Ness said. “We have been pointing to this race for two months. It came up a little stronger than we thought it would. But we are here, took a shot and my jock knows this track real well. I think he won the race for me today.”
Last Samurai finished second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Sheer Flattery in third, with Lookin at Roses another six lengths back in fourth. Moretti, the 2-1 favorite finished fifth and was followed by Shooger Ray Too, 2019 G1 Pennsylvania Derby winner Math Wizard, Sea Foam and Forewarned.
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