Uncaptured breaks from outside in Smarty Jones

Last updated: 8/30/13 5:04 PM

Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured (right) will be looking for his first U.S. win since the Kentucky Jockey Club last November

(EquiSport Photos/Wendy Wooley)

Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured, fresh off a victory in his
homeland’s classic Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, will be spending his Labor Day
outside Philadelphia competing in the Grade 3, $300,000
Smarty
Jones at Parx Racing. Run at one mile and 70 yards, the Smarty Jones is the
leading local prep for the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on September 21.

A winner in six of seven starts as a juvenile, including the Kentucky Jockey
Club and the Iroquois at Churchill Downs, Uncaptured had dropped four straight
prior to his measured one-length victory in the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales on
July 30. The Lion Heart colt really only disappointed once during the losing
skid, finishing up the track in the Blue Grass at Keeneland, but garnered
runner-up honors in the Spiral at Turfway, the Wando at Woodbine, and the Matt
Winn at Churchill. The latter has been the colt’s only setback in four starts on
dirt, and he’ll break from post 10 under Miguel Mena on Monday.

Representing the powerful Todd Pletcher barn is Micromanage, a distant third
to stablemate Verrazano in Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in late July.
The Medaglia d’Oro colt preceded that effort with a 4 1/2-length triumph in the
$107,000 Long Branch over the same track.

Betweenhereandcool, a well-beaten fourth in the West Virginia Derby for Steve
Asmussen last month, could be a major factor if he runs back to the form he
displayed in the Iowa Derby two back. In that 1 1/16-mile test at Prairie
Meadows, the bay fell a neck short of catching Looking Cool in what was his
stakes debut.

Edge of Reality, a second-level allowance winner at Parx in mid-June, endured
a wide trip in the $100,000 Curlin at Saratoga, where he faded to fourth but was
elevated to third via disqualification. In what appears to be a somewhat
paceless affair on paper, the son of High Cotton has an inside post and enough
early foot to be in the hunt throughout.

Other possibilities in the field of 10 include Fountain of Youth third Speak
Logistics, who makes his second start off a layoff; allowance winners Bellarmine
and Norumbega, from the barns of Ken McPeek and Shug McGaughey, respectively;
Battier, a restricted stakes winner trained by Pletcher; and the Chad
Brown-trained Snake Pit.

Ben’s Cat has had a stranglehold on Parx’s Turf Monster Handicap the past two years

(Barbara Weidl/Equi-Photo)

Ben’s Cat, King Leatherbury’s remarkable turf sprint specialist, will seek a
threepeat in the Grade 3, $350,000
Turf
Monster Handicap over five furlongs. Winner in 22 of 33 career starts, the
seven-year-old has won the last two runnings of both the Turf Monster and the
Parx Dash, the latter being his most recent outing on July 5.

Also seeking a third score in the Turf Monster is Chamberlain Bridge, the
former Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner who captured this race in 2009-10. The
still-capable nine-year-old lost by a head to Ben’s Cat in the 2012 renewal, and
has endured some difficult trips in recent outings at Penn National and
Arlington.

Tightend Touchdown, who benefited from the bad luck of the top two in the
June 1 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, exits second-place finishes in the Parx Dash
and the Fiddlers Patriot at Saratoga. The latter was won by Strong Impact, who
invades from Saratoga following a third on yielding ground in the $98,000 Troy
on August 14.

Others likely to be in the mix are Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint hero Varsity,
and recent allowance scorers Console and Stormofthecentury.

The Grade 3, $200,000

Greenwood Cup, a 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Cup Marathon prep, has attracted 2010
Marathon winner Eldaafer. The Grade 2-winning son of A.P. Indy, who finished
third in the 2009 Greenwood Cup, was last seen running second in the $51,000
Stymie at Delaware Park in July.

Another long-winded sort with back class, Pool Play, is a past winner of both
the Stephen Foster Handicap and the Hawthorne Gold Cup. A narrowly-beaten second
in the Hal’s Hope at Gulfstream to start the season, the eight-year-old finished
far up the track in four subsequent outings.

Possible upsetters include Chief Energy and Indian Jones, both of whom
captured Parx allowances this summer.

The favorites in the $200,000
Turf
Amazon Handicap, a five-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares, are
Sensible Lady, who’s won stakes at Saratoga, Pimlico, Colonial Downs, and Penn
National over the past two seasons, and Silverette, who captured her grass debut
in the $100,000 Caress at Saratoga on August 2.

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