Juddmonte Farms' homebred Fulsome rallied from last under Florent Geroux to win Tuesday's $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. The Grade 3 contest is for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles and attracted six runners.
Alonzo finished two lengths behind Fulsome in second, with The King Cheek another half-length back in third, with Ridin With Biden fourth, Fast Bob fifth and The Jones Boy sixth.
Fulsome, a son of Into Mischief out of the Distorted Humor mare, Flourish, covered the 1 1/16 miles on a fast main track in 1:45.57. He paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite, winning for the fifth time in nine career starts. Among those victories was the listed Oaklawn Stakes on May 1 and the G3 Matt Win Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 29. Fulsome was coming off a third place finish to Mr. Wireless in the G3 Indiana Derby on July 7.
Fulsome is trained by Brad Cox.
The King Cheek jumped out to an early lead under Ruben Silvera, setting fractions of :23.12 and :46.75 for the opening half mile. Alonzo, who was in pursuit of the front-runner from the start, took command into the far turn, the first six furlongs clocked in 1:11.63.
Geroux allowed Fulsome to settle at the back of the pack, then commenced his rally around the far turn, going four wide into the stretch before overtaking Alonzo in mid-stretch, passing the mile marker in 1:38.79.
A local prep for the G1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 25, the Smarty Jones was one of three stakes on the Parx Racing Tuesday card. A fourth stakes, the G3, $200,000 Parx Dash, was postponed until Aug. 31 after heavy rain from Tropical Storm Henri prompted track officials to take all races off the turf.
— St. Omer's Farm and Christopher Feifarek's Beren won the $100,000 Parx Summer Sprint Stakes under Frankie Pennington for trainer Robert “Butch” Reid Jr. Sent off the 2-5 favorite in a field of four 3-year-old sprinters, the Pennsylvania-bred colt by Weigelia won by 6 1/2 lengths over Marvalous Mike, with Privet Moon third. He went six furlongs in 1:10.19. The top three each earn free entry in the G2 Gallant Bob Stakes on the Pennsylvania Derby card.
— Bret Calhoun-trained Lovely Ride won the $150,000 Cathryn Sophia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, going a mile and 70 yards in 1:42.66 under Reylu Gutierrez. The Candy Ride filly paid $6.80 to win, with favored Leader of the Band finishing second. Lovely Ride is owned by her breeder, Allied Racing Stable. The Cathryn Sophia serves as a prep for the G1 Cotillion Stakes, also on the Pennsylvania Derby program.
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