Kelso | Horse Racing Free Tips

Weekend Lineup: Parx Takes Center Stage With Five Graded Stakes

Parx will be the focus of many of the nation's racing fans Saturday as the Philadelphia oval hosts five graded stakes races headed by two Grade 1, $1 million races—the Pennsylvania Derby for 3-year-old males and the Cotillion Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Both races mark the unofficial end of the graded stakes season for 3-year-olds males and females.

Races in this weekend's rundown are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern). Full previews, when available, can be found through the link for each race.

TVG will be broadcasting racing throughout the weekend from Delaware Park, Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Woodbine and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app, which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

“America's Day at the Races” will be broadcasting live from Belmont Park on Saturday, Sept. 25 on FS2 from 12:30 – 3:30 pm and on SNY from 5:00-6:00 pm. America's Day at the Races returns on Sunday, Sept. 26 on FS2 from 12:30 – 6:00 pm.

Saturday, September 25

2:34 PM ET – $300,000 Kelso Handicap (Grade 2) at Belmont Park FS2

Multiple graded stakes winner and prohibitive favorite Life is Good is hoping to use the Kelso as a prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL092521USA4-EQB.html

3:20 PM ET – Greenwood Cup Stakes (Grade 3) at Parx on TVG

Repole Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Moretti has been installed the 2-1 morning line favorite as he seeks his first win of the year against a field of nine.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRX092521USA8-EQB.html

3:51 PM ET – $300,000 Turf Monster Stakes (Grade 3T) at Parx on TVG

Firecrow is set to return to the races Saturday for the first time since winning the Jim McKay Sprint on Preakness Day at Pimlico.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRX092521USA9-EQB.html

4:22 PM ET – $275,000 Dogwood Stakes (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs

Undefeated 3-year-old filly Carribean Caper will attempt to land her fifth consecutive victory as the likely favorite in the 46th Dogwood Stakes.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD092521USA8-EQB.html

4:22 PM ET – $300,000 Gallant Bob Stakes (Grade 2) at Parx on TVG

Jackie's Warrior, a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, leads a field of seven following a neck victory over Life is Good in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (Grace 1) at Saratoga.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRX092521USA10-EQB.html

5:02 PM ET – $1,000,000 Cotillion Stakes (Grade 1) at Parx on TVG

Juddmonte Farm's Obligatory will make her third consecutive start in a Grade 1 stakes for Hall of Fame Trainer Bill Mott.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRX092521USA11-EQB.html

5:34 PM ET – $150,000 Bold Venture Stakes (Grade 3) at Woodbine on TVG

Multiple stakes winner and seven-time Sovereign Award recipient Pink Lloyd looks to add to his illustrious career with a win in the Bold Venture. The 9-year-old Pink Lloyd was Canada's 2017 Horse of the Year.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO092521CAN9-EQB.html

5:49 PM ET – $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby (Grade 1) at Parx on TVG

Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and second in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets before being disqualified from first to last in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes, headlines the field of nine 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, after the scratch of morning line favorite Medina Spirit. Other leading contenders include Midnight Bourbon, Keepmeinmind, Bourbonic and Americanrevolution.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PRX092521USA12-EQB.html

5:58 PM ET – $200,000 Athenia (Grade 3T) at Belmont Park on SNY

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle Pocket Square and Miss Teheran in the Athenia Stakes, a nine-furlong turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. Brown has won four of the last five runnings of the Athenia.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL092521USA10-EQB.html

Sunday, Sept. 26

5:16 PM ET – $250,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap (Grade 2) at Belmont Park on FS2

Following a triumph in the Longines Test Stakes (Grade 1) at Saratoga, Bella Sofia will face older fillies and mares at stakes level for the first time in the Gallant Bloom.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL092621USA9-EQB.html

7:33 PM ET – $200,000 Remington Park Oaks (Grade 3) at Remington Park on TVG

Pauline's Pearl is the morning line favorite in the 1-1/16 mile Remington Park Oaks (G3) on the main track for trainer Steve Asmussen and will face six rivals, including Lovely Ride, Amendment Nineteen and Lady Mystify. Pauline's Pearl, who won the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes in April, finished second in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in her most recent start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/RP092621USA8-EQB.html

9:11 PM ET – $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (Grade 3) at Remington Park on TVG

Texas Derby winner Warrant is the morning line favorite in the 1-1/8 mile main track contest for 3-year-olds. The Brad Cox-trained Warrant finished second last out in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby to fellow Oklahoma Derby (G3) entrant Mr. Wireless. Super Stock and Team Merchants are also expected to line up in the eight-horse field.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/RP092621USA11-EQB.html

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Life is Good Faces Elders in Kelso

'TDN Rising Star' Life is Good (Into Mischief) takes on his elders for the first time Saturday and will be heavily favored to defeat them in a four-horse renewal of Belmont's GII Kelso H. Informative (Bodemeister) is scratching in favor of Saturday's Parx Dirt Mile. Devastating the field to graduate by 9 1/2 lengths and earn a 91 Beyer Speed Figure on debut at Del Mar Nov. 22, the $525,000 KEESEP buy captured the one-mile GIII Sham S. next out at Santa Anita Jan. 2. Romping by eight lengths when trying two turns in the GII San Felipe S. in Arcadia Mar. 6, the bay was knocked off the GI Kentucky Derby trail in March after a chip was discovered in his left hind ankle. Transferred from Bob Baffert to Todd Pletcher in the interim, Life is Good returned in Saratoga's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Aug. 28, finishing a narrow second after a brawl with Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music). He ran triple-digit Beyers in his last the races, numbers which put him well above the rest of the field. With Irad Ortiz in the irons, Life is Good can be expected to go right to the front and never look back.

“He ran a giant race off the layoff and has trained well since then,” said Pletcher, who plans to use this race as a springboard to the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. “He's just a very talented horse so I was not surprised he had run so well off the bench. It was an ambitious goal to run in a Grade I, but he's a very talented horse and ran terrific. He came out of it well and has continued to train great.”

Chance It (Currency Swap) has been knocking at the door of a graded victory. Runner-up in the GIII Smile Sprint S. at Gulfstream July , he checked in third behind a savage battle between Yaupon (Uncle Mo) and Firenze Fire (Friesan Fire) in the GI Forego at Saratoga Aug. 28.

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‘Enthusiastic’ Life Is Good To Use Kelso As Prep For Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's dual graded stakes winning sophomore Life Is Good will attempt to make his second start off a layoff a winning one when taking on older horses for the first time in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso for 3-year-olds and upward going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Life Is Good, trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, arrives at the Kelso off a sharp runner-up effort to Jackie's Warrior in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course. The son of leading sire Into Mischief posted swift fractions in the seven-furlong event before engaging in a dramatic stretch duel with Jackie's Warrior, which saw Life Is Good miss by a neck.

Life Is Good entered the H. Allen Jerkens off a six-month layoff from wins at Santa Anita Park over eventual Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in both the Grade 3 Sham on Jan. 2 and the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 6 for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Life Is Good breezed a half-mile in 48.46 on the Belmont dirt training track on Sept. 22.

“He ran a giant race off the layoff and has trained well since then,” said Pletcher, whose previous Kelso coups came with Uncle Mo [2011], Graydar [2013] and Anchor Down [2016]. “He's an enthusiastic horse to train. In both works he was well in hand, especially in his last breeze. He kind of fools you watching him. He doesn't look like he's going that fast, but then he gallops out in 1:25 and change.”

Pletcher credited his team as well as the crew at WinStar Farm for an excellent job preparing Life Is Good for his Saratoga return.

“Everyone did a great job bringing him back,” Pletcher said. “He did a lot of training at Keeneland and trained extremely well at Saratoga. He's just a very talented horse so I was not surprised he had run so well off the bench. It was an ambitious goal to run in a Grade 1, but he's a very talented horse and ran terrific. He came out of it well and has continued to train great.”

Pletcher said a solid effort from Life Is Good on Saturday would likely result in a trip to Del Mar for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on November 6.

“Right now we're thinking about the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Obviously, we need to run here and assess how he does, but that's what we're thinking at the moment,” Pletcher said. “He certainly trains like a horse that's capable of running further and hopefully that's the case down the road.”

Life Is Good brags a record of 4-3-1-0 and field-best earnings of $374,200.
Bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West Stable, Life Is Good is out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who piloted Vyjack to victory in the 2014 Kelso, will climb aboard Life Is Good for the first time from post 2.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It arrives off a third-place finish to talented sprinters Yaupon and Firenze Fire in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Forego on August 28 at Saratoga.

The Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained son of Currency Swap made his first start outside his native Florida in the Forego, where he rated a close third to the inside of the top two finishers, dropped to fifth around the far turn, but re-established position to complete the trifecta.

Chance It, who boasts a consistent 10-4-4-1 record, was a close second in his previous two starts this season and will be in pursuit of his first victory since capturing the Mucho Macho Man in January 2020 at Gulfstream Park.

Manny Franco has the call from post 3.

Trin-Brook Stables' Informative will attempt another graded stakes upset for trainer Uriah St. Lewis. The 4-year-old son of Bodemeister lit up the Monmouth Park tote board when capturing the Grade 3 Salvator Mile on June 12, where he went off at 79-1 odds.

Informative, who boasts two wins in five starts at the Kelso distance, will go back to one mile following unplaced efforts in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Suburban in July at Belmont Park and the nine-furlong Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on August 27.

Eric Cancel will have the call from post 4.

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Flying P Stable will look to add to their string of recent upset stakes wins on the NYRA circuit when sending out last-out winner Fort Peck for trainer Robertino Diodoro. Flying P Stable's Locally Owned posted an 18-1 upset over the Diodoro-trained Lone Rock [co-owned by Flying P Stable] in Saturday's Grand Prix American Jockey Club Invitational at Belmont and Fort Peck will look to continue the trend this weekend.

A 6-year-old son of Fort Larned, Fort Peck was triumphant in his debut for Diodoro when scoring for a $50,000 tag on August 7 at Saratoga.

Ramon Vazquez will ride from post 1.

Completing the field is Three Diamonds Farm's Doubly Blessed, who will try to make amends following a distant seventh in the Forego. The son of Empire Maker will make his third start over Big Sandy following a close second to Locally Owned in an April optional claiming tilt at 1 1/16-miles, followed by a victory at the same distance in May.

Hall of Famer and four-time Kelso winning jockey Javier Castellano will ride from post 5 for trainer Mike Maker.

The Kelso is slated as Race 4 on Saturday's 11-race card, which also features the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia for fillies and mares going nine furlongs over the inner turf in Race 10. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

The Kelso honors the legendary five-time Horse of the Year [1960-64] who triumphed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in each of those years. Campaigned by Allaire du Pont's Bohemia Stable and trained by Carl Hanford, Kelso's illustrious career saw the gifted dark bay defeat more champion horses than any other thoroughbred, including Jaipur, Carry Back, Roman Brother and Bald Eagle. Kelso, who was ranked No. 4 on the Top 100 Greatest North American Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1967.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Whitney Third Silver State Could Target Kelso Or Woodward

Following a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney, Silver State is scheduled to have his next start at Belmont Park, but which race he enters is still unknown said David Fiske manager and bloodstock adviser for Winchell Thoroughbreds, who own Silver State in partnership with Willis Horton Racing.

Fiske said the one-mile Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso on Sept. 25 or the nine-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward on Oct. 2 are the two most likely options for the 4-year-old son of Hard Spun.

Silver State, trained by Hall of Fame Steve Asmussen, arrived at the Whitney on a six-race win streak, including three stakes triumphs at Oaklawn Park as well as a victory in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 5 at Belmont.

“He's doing great,” Fiske said. “He's been remarkably sound all year.”

Fiske said plans for Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon are still in flux after a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

Options for the son of Tiznow could include training up to the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, or bypassing the Classic to target races like the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

“He put in a pretty big effort in the Travers, so we'll see how he bounces out of it,” Fiske said.

Fiske also reported that Grade 2 Adirondack-winner Wicked Halo is getting some rest and could target something toward the end of the year. The daughter of leading first crop sire Gun Runner won the Adirondack in wire-to-wire fashion by 3 ½ lengths. Her dam Just Wicked won the Adirondack in 2015.

“She's taking a little break. After the Adirondack we decided to just give her some time and get her ready for the later part of the year,” Fiske said. “Steve's relying on his experience with her mother, and he felt that he might have rushed her a little bit, so he didn't want to make the same mistake.”

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