The extended weather forecast for the Philadelphia area later this week calls for light rain virtually every day. There’s no guarantee a potential off track will benefit Preakness (G1) winner Seize the Grey, but it wouldn’t hurt.
One of 11 three-year-olds in the $1 million nine-furlong fixture at Parx on Saturday, Seize the Grey not only might get the surface condition he’ll appreciate, but will get a welcome bit of class relief in the Pennsylvania Derby after back-to-back losses in the Belmont (G1) and Jim Dandy (G2) by a dozen lengths each.
Seize the Grey captured the middle jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico in wire-to-wire fashion over a muddy track, though the form of that race hasn’t held up. Second in the Preakness was Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan, who finished a distant eighth in the Belmont before hitting the sidelines for the season. Third was Catching Freedom, who subsequently finished fourth as an odds-on favorite in the Ohio Derby (G3).
Another son of Arrogate who figures to thrive if the going is off is the speedy Dragoon Guard, who enters on a four-race win streak for Juddmonte and trainer Brad Cox. After an allowance win in the slop at Churchill Downs in June, Dragoon Guard shook loose from Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Stronghold in the Indiana Derby (G3), and then landed the West Virginia Derby (G3) as an odds-on favorite.
Also likely to attract play is stakes winner Unmatched Wisdom, a dull seventh in the Travers (G1) after taking his first three starts. The Todd Pletcher-trained Protective, who placed in the Wood Memorial (G2) and Peter Pan (G3) during the spring, earned a belated maiden win last out at Saratoga in his seventh career start, winning over 1 1/4 miles as a 1-20 favorite. Timeout, a son of Curlin and from the female family of Gun Runner, remains with upside though, like Protective, is still eligible for a first-level allowance.
Perhaps the heaviest favorite on Saturday’s card at Parx will be Next in the $200,000 Greenwood Cup (G3), a 1 1/2-mile test the son of Not This Time won by 25 lengths last year. Next’s penchant for open-length victories has not abated of late as the six-year-old enters off a 22-length score in the Birdstone S. at Saratoga.
Multiple stakes winner Bentornato figures to take much of the play in the $400,000 Gallant Bob (G2) after getting in a useful prep in last month’s Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town. Named in honor of the 1975 champion sprinter, the Gallant Bob is for three-year-olds and run at 6 1/2 furlongs.
The Parx turf course is scheduled to reopen Saturday after recent maintenance, but the weather forecast suggests the $250,000 Turf Monster (G3) could be in jeopardy of being moved to the main track.
