By Dick Jerardi
Now that we are halfway home in the racing year at Parx, I spent some time looking back at the best performances by trainers, jockeys owners and horses so far in 2025. Turns out two Parx regulars lead the national standings for trainer and jockey wins at this stage.
The individual award for top performance must go to trainer Michael Pino. I wrote about him several weeks ago, figuring I better get to the story while he is at his hottest. Well, he has not cooled off.
Through June 30, Pino is a solid second in the trainers’ standings with 48 winners. But that really is not the story. He is 48-for-119 (40 percent) with 82 in the money (69 percent). In recent times, I can only remember one trainer (Carlos Guerrero in 2010) staying this hot for this long. So Pino gets the mid-year Parx MVP award.
Jamie Ness (65 winners) is well on his way to his sixth consecutive Parx trainers’ title. Ness is also No. 1 in the nation midway through the year with 173 winners, 11 clear of perennial national leader Steve Asmussen’s 162 winners. Ness has his total with just 679 starters, while Asmussen has had 1,231. Ness is winning at 25 percent (23 percent Parx) while Asmussen is at just 12 percent.
Ness, Pino, and Esteban Padilla, who is also third in the standings with 34 winners, are the only trainers whose horses have exceeded $1 million in Parx purse earnings at the halfway mark.
Honorable mention first half MVP goes to trainer Felissa Dunn whose horses are 11-for–27 (41 percent) at Parx. Not a threat to win the title with so few starters, but 41 percent is 41 percent.
Here are the trainers with at least 20 percent Parx winners (minimum five winners) through June: Miguel Rodriguez (27 percent), Lupe Preciado (26), John Kirby (26), Richie Vega (24), Jack Abrams (24), Elliott Soto-Martinez (24), Susan Crowell (23), Michael Moore (21), Roberto Rosado (21) and Bobbi Anne Hawthorne (20).
Mychel Sanchez just hit 100 wins at Parx and looks well on his way to his third straight jockeys’ title. Paco Lopez is second in the Parx standings with 65 winners, but first in the country with 179 winners. Sanchez’s 148 wins are fourth nationally.
The other five riders with Parx mount earnings of at least $1 million are: Dexter Haddock (42 Parx wins), Eliseo Ruiz (36), Abner Adorno (35), Frankie Pennington (31) and Slvestre Gonzalez (30).
Top Notch, which won the owners’ title last year, leads the standings with 27 winners, just ahead of Madison Avenue, Morris Kernan, and Jagger with 25. In addition to the top two, these stables (minimum 5 wins) are hitting at 20 percent or more: The Hakim’s Stable (37 percent) Barry Franklin (32) Andy Hawthorne (32), Just In Time Racing (31), Double B Racing (31), Hardesty (28), Miguel Rodriguez (28), Smart Angle (25) and Jack Armstrong (21).
The owners mid-year MVP goes to Ben Dunn and Chris Mancusi, with nine starters, six wins, and three seconds, all from Adeleke and Double Your Money, both of which are trained by Felissa Dunn, Ben’s mother.
One horse (Speightster Red) has five wins so far at Parx. Five others have four wins (Son of Thor, Harp’s Hot Corner, Liberty Star, Bottles, and Hi Heeled Warrior).
We may be halfway home, but the best is yet to come, with all the major stakes coming after the August break and Pennsylvania Derby Day on September 20.
