King’s Bishop near-misser Fast Anna was bet down to 3-5 favoritism in
Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000
Gallant Bob at Parx,
but locally based speedster Favorite Tale continued to be unbeatable at his home
track. After vying with Fast Anna early, the Guadalupe Preciado trainee got the
upper hand and kicked 2 1/2 lengths clear to remain perfect from four starts at
Parx.
A homebred campaigned by Paul Conaway’s PJG Stables, Favorite Tale was also
capitalizing on his rail draw on a day that was favoring inside speed. The Tale
of the Cat gelding, whose only prior stakes victory came in the May 4 Gold Fever
at Belmont, was dispatched as the 7-2 second choice off a trio of stakes
placings. He was a neck short when runner-up to Coup de Grace in the July 5 Oh
Say at Delaware, and missed by the same margin when third to Pure Sensation in
the grassy Quick Call at Saratoga July 24. He was most recently second, beaten
three-quarters of a length, by Prudhoe Bay in the August 16 Jersey Shore at
Monmouth, and gained revenge on his last two conquerors here.
Although Favorite Tale broke sharply with John Bisono, Fast Anna lived up to
his name in the initial stages and zipped to a narrow advantage through a
quarter-mile in :21 1/5. But Favorite Tale was glued alongside and soon put his
head in front. Beginning to edge ahead through a half in :43 1/5 on a surface
that was playing fast, Favorite Tale opened up by daylight down the stretch. He
clocked :55 1/5 for the five-furlong split and completed six furlongs in 1:08.
Fast Anna held second by a diminishing neck from Bump Start, who was followed
under the line by Pure Sensation, Prudhoe Bay, Good Bye Greg and the eased
Camden Street.
Pure Sensation and Prudhoe Bay, however, were soon embroiled in the stewards’
room. Paco Lopez, Prudhoe Bay’s rider, claimed foul against Joel Rosario on Pure
Sensation for an incident at the start. Pure Sensation took a left turn out of
the gate, swiping Prudhoe Bay just to his inside. The stewards disallowed the
claim and declared the result official as it stood.
Favorite Tale rewarded his fans with a $9 win payout and improved his own
line to 10-5-2-1, $369,826. The Pennsylvania-bred began his career with a
three-race winning spree at Parx this winter, crowned by a 14-length allowance
romp March 24. Favorite Tale then tried New York and dropped two out of three.
He bookended his aforementioned Gold Fever win (where he defeated Pure Sensation
and Havana) with poor efforts in both the Bay Shore and Woody Stephens. Since
then, the bay has been a model of consistency.
Favorite Tale was produced by the Grade 3-placed Tricky Elaine, a Grindstone
half-sister to 1997 Horse of the Year and champion two-year-old colt Favorite
Trick. Also in the family are Grade 2 queen Tizfiz and current Grade 3 scorer
Fury Kapcori.
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