By Joe Quillen
Friday 5/31/24 – Penn National Race 6 – Penn Mile (Grade 3)
After a Memorial Day vacation, I am back with an interesting race here for the return of the QPW. We are going to a track that you don’t necessarily hear from that often, and that is Penn National which is in Grantville, Pennsylvania, which is northeast of the state capital, Harrisburg. They have their signature races this evening as we will look at the Penn Mile, which is a one-mile race on the turf for three-year-olds. Post time for their signature race is set for approximately 7:45 pm Eastern time.
Before we get into the race, some random facts about the track and today’s race card. If you are looking to play most if not all of the race card today, you will notice that the track has four consecutive races on the turf, which you do not see that often, with the Penn Mile being the final race of the sequence. Penn National does not have adequate lighting or any lights on the turf course, so the track is forced to run these races earlier in the card to take advantage of the sunsets which is around 8:30 pm this time of the year. So there is a built in buffer if the races get delayed for whatever reason.
Also, keep an eye on the turf condition when the scratches and changes come out. The track is about two hours west of me and should be getting the same optimal sunshine to dry out the turf course some like it most likely did on Thursday. It’s just the matter of how much rain the turf course took this week.
Favored in the Penn Mile is the 10 Trikari (3/1 morning line) who shocked everyone on a good turf in the American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He wasn’t too far off the pace and drew off in the stretch to win by almost two lengths at 47/1 odds. He definitely won’t be that high of odds any time soon, if ever again, but he has shown versatility of being able to go for the lead like he did at Gulfstream Park, or rate like he did in the Rushaway at Turfway Park on the synthetic and as well as last time out.
I don’t see much speed in this race. It is very possible that Trikari goes for the lead here. The only horse that I think could go with Trikari if he does go could be the 3 Tropandhagen (30/1 ML). He is coming back for this first race since December 1 at Penn, but that was a dirt race. If he matured in that break, then he could be dangerous, but I will tell you to wait a race before dropping any money on him.
The 2 Good Lord Lorrie (9/2 ML) could be a horse that closes well here. He won the Woodhaven at Aqueduct at the end of April and could be looking at a similar trip.
The 4 First World War (4/1 ML) had all kinds of issues in the Transylvania at Keeneland at the beginning of April and should be near the pace again. Don’t sleep on the jockey change to Frankie Dettori here who is a grass master.
The 7 Set (6/1 ML) had traffic issues in the race that the morning line favorite won four weeks ago. The question is whether you stalk or lead with this horse. We know the 3 is going to go and tire. The question is what some of these horses will do, this colt included.
The 1 Aspenite (10/1 ML) could be a sneaky horse here. The Cesar Torres/Steve Asmussen combo is strong and he stretches out to a mile here for his third race off of the layoff. He won a $500k race at Kentucky Downs last September, and that track is probably the toughest turf course to win on in the United States. He should be stalking as well, waiting to pounce.
In the end, I think this is going to turn into a mad dash to the finish. I’m going to try to beat the favorite with the turf guru Frankie Dettori on the 4 First World War. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a blanket finish here with him winning. Let’s call this 4-7-10-2 with Set outfinishing Trikari, Good Lord Lorrie and Aspenite. My play on this final day of May is $20 to win on the 4. Good luck everyone!
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more!