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Winchell Has Strong Hand With Midnight Bourbon, Silver State At Parx

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Midnight Bourbon, 3-1 morning line second choice will try to capture his first Grade 1 victory in Saturday's $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, and enters after falling short of victory by a neck in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga.

Multiple graded stakes winner Silver State owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Willis Horton Racing, will look to begin another win streak in the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile after his string of six consecutive victories came to an end in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, both look to be strong contenders according to Winchell's Racing Manager David Fiske.

“I think both spots are really good for them,” Fiske said. “The two-turn mile for Silver State should set him up for the Breeders' Cup Mile. Midnight Bourbon, he keeps knocking on the door. I think eventually he's going to knock one of these off. He's a really cool horse. Big personality. I saw a little video of him schooling in the paddock yesterday. Man, he looked like something else.”

Midnight Bourbon began the year with a victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds and then added a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Risen Star, also in Louisiana.

Next came a second in the Louisiana Derby before finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

The colt by Tiznow then added a runner-up finish in the Preakness, before clipping heels with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch run during the Grade 1 Haskell and losing jockey Paco Lopez.

“Hopefully, Saturday is his turn,” said Fiske. “It's been a peculiar year. Most years, the field for the Kentucky Derby evaporates the day after the Derby. This year we've had Essential Quality, Midnight Bourbon, Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit — even though he scratched — he's still going. There are a lot of them out there and they're all quality colts.”

As far as Midnight Bourbon goes, Fiske knows this:

“He's a cool horse,” he said. “He seems to show up every time. He ran well in the Preakness, ran well in the Travers, ran well in the Derby. He's just a cool customer. He's a high energy guy. You need to be on your toes around him all the time.”

Silver State ended his 3-year-old year with a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, then returned the following year with a seven-length victory against allowance competition at Keeneland. From there the son of Hard Spun added three more victories before returning to face graded stakes competition where he won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap and Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap

“It's unusual for any horse to win that many races in a row,” Fiske said. “We had a horse a long time ago that won an Eclipse Award named Tight Spot. He won eight in a row. Then, we had a little horse that ran fourth in the Derby [1981 Kentucky Derby] named Classic Go Go that Tony Black rode. He won seven in a row. One of those was at the old Keystone Park as a matter of fact. He would win a race on Saturday then win a race at Keystone on Thursday. He made 26 starts as a 3-year-old. You do the math on that.”

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‘Monumental Chore,’ But ‘Honest’ Beren Takes On Jackie’s Warrior In Parx’s Gallant Bob

After a year away, it's good to be back. That's what you've heard on the backstretch at Parx as the days get closer to the biggest day in racing in the Keystone State. The Pennsylvania Derby is back.

Following a year's hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, a 13-race card comes to Parx Saturday, Eight stakes races – highlighted by a pair of $1 million Grade 1 races, the Cotillion and Pennsylvania Derby – worth $3.4 million will be held.

“It will be good to see the nation get a chance to look at us and look at the quality product we put out here,” veteran Parx trainer Robert “Butch” Reid said. “There are good horsemen here with good horses. To get the national press is a very good thing for the track. It was like last year never happened because we missed out on our big day.”

Reid has horses running in five races. He will send out Beren in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bob for 3-year-olds where he will tackle the imposing Jackie's Warrior.

Beren, owned by St. Omer's Farm and Christopher Feifarek, is 6-1 on the morning line and will be ridden by Frankie Pennington, the second leading rider at the Parx meet with 121 wins.

In eight career starts at Parx, Beren has four wins and two seconds. Overall, he has six wins in 12 career starts. The Gallant Bob will be his second graded stakes start; he was third in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Belmont in April.

“It's obviously a monumental chore,” Reid said about going up against Jackie's Warrior, the 4-5 morning line favorite. “But the horse always gives a good effort and we will certainly give it a try.”

Beren is coming off a front-running 6 ½-length win in the Parx Summer Sprint Stakes on Aug. 24. His trainer says his horse does not need the lead to win.

“He won a race at Belmont (Gold Fever on May 9) and he stumbled out of the gate, righted himself, and ran really well,” Reid said. “He is just an honest horse.”

Reid has also entered 6-year-old Smooth B in the five-furlong Grade 3, $300,000 Turf Monster and Ninetypercentbrynn in the $200,000 Plum Pretty at 1 1/16 miles.

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Cross Country Pick 5 Features Action From Belmont, Churchill, Parx

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host an all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday featuring action from Belmont Park, Churchill Downs and Parx.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5 kicks off with the Grade 2 Gallant Bob [Race 10, 4:22 p.m. Eastern], the first of a trio of graded events from Parx in the sequence. Multiple Grade 1-winner Jackie's Warrior, last-out winner of the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, is listed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the six-furlong sprint for sophomores. Track specialist Beren, a four-time winner at Parx, will look to spring the upset for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.

In the second leg, Stonestreet Stables' homebred Clairiere will look to secure a first Grade 1 win when exiting post 6 under Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the $1 million Cotillion [Race 11, 5:01 p.m.], a 1 1/16-mile test for sophomore fillies. The Curlin bay, trained by Asmussen, enters from a runner-up effort to Kentucky Oaks-winner Malathaat in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Alabama at the Spa.

Maracuja will be reunited with Kendrick Carmouche, who guided the Honor Code gray to a third-out maiden win in February at Aqueduct. The Rob Atras trainee captured the Grade 1 CCA Oaks in July with Santana, Jr. up in place of the injured Carmouche and enters from an off-the-board effort in the Alabama. Always Carina, runner-up in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Mother Goose two starts back at Belmont, stretches out from a fourth-place finish in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Longines Test in August at the Spa for trainer Chad Brown.

Action switches to Churchill Downs for the middle leg of the sequence as a field of 10 sophomores sprint seven furlongs in the Harrods Creek [Race 10, 5:26 p.m.] led by Clearview Stable's stakes-placed Irish Unity. Trained by Asmussen, the Pioneerof the Nile gelding is out of the multiple graded-stakes winning Dixie Union mare Justwhistledixie making him a half-sibling to graded-stakes winners Enforceable, Kingly, Mohaymen and New Year's Day. Multiple stakes-placed Dreamer's Disease and speedy shipper Emerald Forest are among a number of contenders in a wide-open affair.

Hot Rod Charlie, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the penultimate leg – the nine-furlong Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby [Race 12, 5:49 p.m.] at Parx. Trained by Doug O'Neill, the Oxbow colt was a game third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs and last out crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park but was disqualified and placed seventh after drifting in front of Midnight Bourbon, who clipped heels and fell.

Midnight Bourbon exited the Haskell to finish second in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers last out and will provide steep opposition under returning pilot Santana, Jr. Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner, a bay son of Street Sense trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, steps into stakes company for the first time off a sharp allowance score against older company in August at the Spa. Graded-stakes winners Fulsome, Weyburn, Keepmeinmind, and Bourbonic add depth to a loaded field.

The sequence concludes with the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia [Race 10, 5:58 p.m.], a nine-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park. Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Group 3-winner Pocket Square and stakes-placed Miss Teheran in a compact field of five that includes the well-related Lake Lucerne, a bay daughter of Dubawi out of the multiple Grade 1-winning Awesome Again mare Round Pond.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, September 25:
Leg A: Parx-Race 10 Grade 2 Gallant Bob (4:44 p.m.)
Leg B: Parx-Race 11 Grade 1 Cotillion (5:02 p.m.)
Leg C: Churchill -Race 10 Harrods Creek (5:26 p.m.)
Leg D: Parx-Race 12 Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby (5:49 p.m.)
Leg E: Belmont-Race 10 Grade 3 Athenia (5:58 p.m.)

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Hot Rod Charlie: ‘Blue-Collar’ Horse Goes From 94-1 Shot To Pennsylvania Derby Favorite

No one gave Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing and Gainesway Stables' Hot Rod Charlie a second look when he ran in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November. The speedy son of Oxbow was given two chances to win that prize: none and none.

Hot Rod Charlie was dismissed at odds of 94-1 that day and ended up finishing second, three quarters of a length behind Essential Quality.

It was a sign of things to come.

“That was pretty incredible,” trainer Doug O'Neill said about the Juvenile. “It sounds pretty obvious, but that is the thing that sent us on our way. It really set the tone for what has happened this year.”

With the sudden defection of Medina Spirit from the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, Hot Rod Charlie is the new morning-line favorite at odds of 8-5.

Saturday will be his first race since the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 17. In that race, Hot Rod Charlie was the first horse across the finish line but was disqualified and placed last after Midnight Bourbon clipped heels with him in the stretch.

Before that, Hot Rod Charlie and jockey Flavien Prat ran a courageous race in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont, finishing second behind Essential Quality.

In five starts this year, Hot Rod Charlie has one win — the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby — to go along with a third in the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby.

“He has shown up in every big race we have had him in,” O'Neill said. “He has been very honest and, gosh, I just feel so lucky and blessed to be connected with him, He is just a real cool, blue-collar, solid horse.”

After the Haskell, Hot Rod Charlie went back to O'Neill's base in California and the trainer decided he would let the horse tell him when he was ready to go again.

“He needed a couple of weeks after the Haskell,” O'Neill said. “He had to get his bearings about him and get his energy back to where we wanted it to be. As I started breezing him, I just let him go easy, and the last couple of works we have asked him for a little bit of run. He has responded in normal Charlie fashion.”

Hot Rod Charlie arrived at Parx along with the popular Hall of Famer Lava Man, who serves as the colt's pony, last Saturday.

“He seems to be coming into the Pennsylvania Derby in good shape,” O'Neill said. “I am a big fan of Bensalem and I'm pumped to be going into their signature race with a live chance.”

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