The advantage of me on vacation from my real job is that the creative juices flow here on Bleacher Brothers. Presque Isle Downs and Parx Racing created the Penn Pick 4 and Keystone Double for this weekend’s big races.
Presque Isle Downs’ signature race the Presque Isle Masters is tonight. One of Parx’s signature races, the Pennsylvania Derby is tomorrow. Let’s dabble with these races as well as the Presque Isle Mile at PID and the Cotillion at Parx tomorrow and see if we can take down this pick 4. At the very least, let’s get this double!
Presque Isle Downs Race 7 – Presque Isle Mile
We have ten horses entered for the Presque Isle Mile here today. For someone who has aged like fine wine, or aged without maturing like yours truly, you remember the Michigan Mile at old Detroit Race Course ran their big race at a mile and an eighth.
Presque Isle Downs is in the same boat here, but probably unintentionally. When this race was revived in 2019, the race was extended from the mile distance to a mile and a sixteenth, today’s distance.
But even if the name does not match the distance in today’s first race of the Penn Pick 4, we still have a run race here.
We do have two cross entrants in this race. The 2 Fierce and Strong (12/1 morning line) is cross-entered in the Alphabet Soup where he is the 3/1 favorite in the state-bred turf stakes. Also cross entered is the 4 Twilight Dancer (4/1 ML) who might be better served to run at the Erie track. He has won three in a row here and four of five from both near the pace and further off.
We will know where those horses will be running when scratches and changes are announced at the Northwestern PA oval. We do know that the 8 Forever Souper is the 2/1 morning line favorite in this race. She won last month here at Presque Isle and can win from off the pace here or on the front end like she did in a short field at Laurel Park. Also notice that she has trained up to this race on a similar Tapeta surface at Fair Hill. The connections have this horse primed for this race this evening.
A dangerous horse that could be loose on the lead is the 5 K.C. Chief (6/1 ML). Like his namesake, he has won back-to-back races. Matter of fact, he has a longer win streak winning four in a row, where the Chiefs are slacking in only winning two Super Bowls in a row! He is a need the lead type and if he’s alone up front, Irad Ortiz knows what to do with him, even if it’s his first ride on this gelding.
He’s a Mess (#3, 9/2 ML) could not hold off Twilight Dancer in the Hard Spun two races back at Presque Isle. He had a race that does not look that great on paper, but he did have a wide trip in the previous race. There’s more horse flesh here today, but I imagine a better trip with the jockey change today.
We have a horse that has the potential to be loose on the lead here with by far the most talented jockey running in the race. I’ll take K.C. Chief here to upset the field. I’ll go 5-4-8-3 in the Presque Isle Mile with a $20 win wager on the 5.
Presque Isle Race 9 – Presque Isle Masters (Grade 2)
I talked about this race in length with my bonus QPW race. Click here for all the details and my thoughts of the race. Note that this race is linked with the Pennsylvania Derby for the Keystone Double.
Parx Racing Race 12 – Cotillion Stakes (Grade 1) (Saturday 9/21)
I got a chuckle out of the Daily Racing Form on Monday evening when David Grening posted his article about Saturday’s Grade 1 Cotillion. The article was titled “Seven brave souls sign up to take on Thorpedo Anna in Cotillion” which is very true. Or at least we think, because like I have said numerous times in articles, to friends as well as on Also Eligible, these races are not run on paper.
The heavily favored filly Thorpedo Anna (4/5 ML) will make an appearance at Parx tomorrow. She was just as fierce at Fierceness in the stretch in the Travers at Saratoga last month. But knowing the mentality of the top three-year-old filly, instead of resting her up for the Breeders’ Cup, she will run in the co-signature race of the season at the Bensalem oval.
Even if she were to bounce off of the 111 Beyer Speed Figure on the Daily Racing Form, she can still easily defeat these fillies today.
The 3 Tarifa (5/1 ML) prepped at Ellis Park and showed she needed that race. The 1 Power Squeeze (4/1 ML) shortens a furlong and a half after closing to win the Alabama at Saratoga. Dangerous on the outside is the 8 Mystic Lake who won the two-turn seven furlong Charles Town Oaks in dominating fashion. Even more dangerous is the fact that Mike Smith comes in to ride tomorrow.
I will make you wait for my pick in tomorrow’s article. But I will tell you to keep an eye on the show pools tomorrow at Parx. This is one of two races where the bridge jumpers (will explain this on Also Eligible tomorrow) could be out in force. But you will get an idea with my pick 4 wager at the end of this article.
Parx Racing Race 13 – Pennsylvania Derby (Grade 1) (Saturday 9/21)
Then we reach the featured race of the 2024 Parx Racing Season. It’s the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby going a mile and an eighth on the main track. We have 11 horses entered for this race which should be a final prep for some of these horses before the Breeders’ Cup.
Granted, this race did not attract all the top Triple Crown horses this year like the track’s intention when they moved this race to mid-September from its former Labor Day spot. But we have seen Kentucky Derby winners like California Chrome and Breeders’ Cup Classic winners like Bayern run in Bensalem.
We do have the Preakness winner Seize the Grey (#2, 5/1 ML) in the field tomorrow. He ran gate to wire on a speed favoring Pimlico main track that day but may have met his kryptonite in Saratoga with two poor performances there. At least that’s what legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas thinks, which led him to commit to this race shortly after the Jim Dandy where his horse finished a well beaten fourth.
Favored in the PA Derby is the 7 Dragoon Guard (9/5 ML) who will play “catch me if you can” with this field. He will go for the lead here and try to win this race after Grade 3 wins in the Indiana Derby at Horseshoe Indianapolis and the West Virgina Derby last month at Mountaineer Park.
Dragoon Guard could have company on the front end with Unmatched Wisdom (#8, 8/1 ML) starting right next to him. He got bumped around at the start of the Travers after winning the restricted Curlin Stakes at Saratoga in July.
On the outside is the 11 Stronghold (5/2 ML) who should be stalking these two aforementioned runners if a speed duel develops. He trained up to this race after that Indiana Derby at Del Mar and Santa Anita for today.
There are two dangerous closers at potentially huge prices if there is a meltdown pace tomorrow. The 4 Timeout (10/1 ML) has closed well in his last three races, which were all at this distance. The 5 Protective (8/1 ML) has held his own with the top three-year-olds in the Wood Memorial and Peter Pan at Aqueduct as a maiden. He did win in an off-the-turf race to finally break his maiden, which may not tell much, but he is always there in the end.
Once again, check again with tomorrow’s Also Eligible show as well as the corresponding article of the Cotillion and Parx for my official selections
Joe’s Pick 4
I want coverage in the two legs at Presque Isle as well as in the Pennsylvania Derby. Thorpedo Anna is a no-brainer single in the Cotillion which might bite me in the end if she does not run her race.
Take the 4 Twilight Dancer, the 5 K.C. Chief and the 8 Forever Souper in the Presque Isle Mile. In the Presque Isle Masters, I will take all four horses that I highlighted in that article. They are the 2 Roses for Debra, the 6 Nice as Pie, the 7 Pandora’s Gift and the 8 Gal in a Rush.
In the Parx legs, it’s all about Thorpedo Anna in the Cotillion. Unless there is something seriously wrong with her she wins, and she’s my single. In the Pennsylvania Derby, I’m tossing the favorites and using the 4 Timeout, the 5 Protective and the 11 Stronghold. At a 50-cent increment, this bet will cost $18. Best of luck this weekend!
Joe’s Penn Pick 4 Ticket
- PID Race 7: 4,5,8
- PID Race 9: 2,6,7,8
- Prx Race 12: 6
- Prx Race 13: 4,5,11
Joe’s Keystone Double Ticket
In honor of Dave Weaver, who will be on track for FanDuel TV with track announcing legend Larry Collmus, I’ll go with my ice cold double here. That wager for $20 is the 7 Pandora’s Gift in the Presque Masters and the 4 Timeout in the Pennsylvania Derby.
Check out my stream “The Joe Quills Show” on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9 pm Eastern on my Twitch, X and YouTube talking about the latest sports news and whatever comes up; and catch my horse racing show every Saturday at 10 am Eastern on the Bleacher Brothers platforms.