By Dick Jerardi
There will be no better advertisement for the depth of talent at Parx in 2025 than the three $75,000 stakes set for New Year’s Eve. And no better preview for what might be to come than the three $75,000 stakes at the track on the penultimate day of the year.
So many tough, older fan favorites running Wednesday that it will be hard to know who to root for. The 1 1/16-mile Kris Krigle, goes as Race 7 and will feature Ballezzi Mile winner Point Dume, Claiming Crown winner Double Your Money, Turkey Trot 1-2 Call Me Fast and Ninetyprcentmaddie as well as the estimable stablemates Irish Cork and Adero who have won more than $1 million between them. Those six have combined to win 40 races and $3,446,232. How is that for a tough $75,000 stakes?
Consider Race 8, The Blitzen, going 7 furlongs, with Maximus Meridius and his nearly $600,000 in earnings, ageless Twisted Ride going for win No. 12 and closing fast on $800,000 and Buccherino, a half-million dollar earner and a lovely gift at the back end of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Velazquez’s career, among others.
Race 9, the 7-furlong Mrs. Claus for fillies and mares has Alani (10 times first or second this year in 12 starts), 2024 Plum Pretty winner Foxy Junior and the scorching hot Boutwell Time, winner of her last two by nearly 20 combined lengths.
If the horses did not represent enough firepower, how about some of the trainers with horses in those three races? One (Jamie Ness, 4,887) is closing on 5,000 wins, another (Bruce Kravets, 3,929) is closing on 4,000, three others have between 2,000 and 3,000: Ned Allard (2,827) Tim Kreiser (2,346) and John Servis (2,106) and three more have between 1,000 and 2,000: Kate DeMasi (1,886), Velazquez (1,238) and Butch Reid (1,034). Add Bernie Houghton (955) and Carlos Guerrero (918) to the mix and you have trainers in the three Wednesday stakes that have combined to win 22,126 races.
If Wednesday represents the past and present, Tuesday is about the future with three stakes for 2-year-olds, The Miss Behaviour (Pennsylvania bred and sired fillies), The Parx Future Stars and the Parx Future Stars fillies, races 6, 8 and 9 respectively.
The horse in the three races with the highest upside would appear to be Mailata who drew the 1 post in the 7-furlong Future Stars. The son of Maximus Mischief was not quite ready for racing in his first two starts when third and fourth. Well, he is clearly ready now after big wins in a maiden race and the Pa. Nursery which resulted in 72 and 80 Beyer figures.
Reid and the connections (Chuck Zacney and Glenn Bennett), however, will have a decision to make about where to run the promising colt. He is also going to be entered in the 1-mile, $150,000 Jan. 3 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. Either way, this looks like a colt, if he keeps improving, with the possibility of getting on the Triple Crown trail.
If not Mailata in the Future Stars, Reid and Bennett have a serious candidate in Tough Guy Tony, winner of the Fifth Mountain Stakes at Penn National last month. Freedom’s Echo could not have been more impressive when breaking his maiden by 11 lengths on Nov. 1 for Lupe Preciado (three from 2,200 wins in his career).
Divine Intentions, Law School and Tap Into Grace look like the top three in the 7-furlong filly division. Each has early speed so this should be a serious race from the start, with jockey tactics and position likely determining the outcome.
The Miss Behaviour would appear to be a wide-open affair as none of the fillies has run particularly fast yet and there are four maidens, including a first-time starter.
