Where did the time go? Today is April 1 (no foolin’!) and we are a quarter of the way through 2025. We begin the second quarter of 2025 with the eighth race at Parx today.
Today we have three-year-old optional claimers sprinting six furlongs on what I am expecting will be a sloppy to muddy track. It has rained most of the night here in the Philadelphia area, so I lean more towards sloppy today. That may mean that this field of eight may scratch down some.
Parx Race 8 – Allowance Optional Claiming
Favored in today’s race is the 7 Cojelo Pa Ti (2/1 morning line). This colt does have a wet track win to his credit, having won two races back here at Parx on a good surface. He is going to the front and look to make it four wins in a row today. But note that the lone race in sloppy conditions, he did not run well.
The 8 Alchemism (3/1 ML) finished second last month here at Parx while close to the pace but unable to catch today’s favorite. He has a 12-length win to his credit on the slop back in December then followed it up with a nice effort in the Parx Future Stars Stakes 13 days later also on the slop.
The 5 Friday Surprise (5/1 ML) returns to the races from a seven-month layoff. He finished second in his last two races up at Saratoga, but did have some issues lugging in. This colt has shown some ability despite still being a maiden after three races, and we will see if he can do it off of a long layoff.
The 3 Jadon’s Honor (10/1 ML) closed well to defeat maiden claimers about three weeks ago at Parx at 20/1 odds. We will quickly see if that was a fluke win or the light bulb has turned on for this gelding.
Joe’s Pick
Sometime you wonder if people realize that they put a maiden in against winners. The 5 Friday Surprise has run well in his three races and returns to face winners here despite being a maiden.
Right around this time of a three-year-old campaign, it becomes rarer that maidens win against horses that have already broken their maiden. But it could happen in the Kentucky Derby as Arkansas Derby runner up Publisher is 0 for 7 lifetime, but should have enough points to make it to the gate for the Kentucky Derby next month.
But when it comes back to today’s race, logic tells me go elsewhere, but the program is telling me to go for it. Let’s take Friday Surprise in a bit of an upset here today. I’m calling this race 5-8-7-3 and my play is $20 to win on the 5. Best of luck everyone and I will see you in the winner’s circle!
Yesterday’s Race at Parx
Monday afternoon’s race at Parx was declared a “no contest.” I was able to find the video on TwinSpires and watch it. The 1 Sir Rob Roy lost his jockey where the seven-furlong chute connects with the main track and the turn. He then made a left turn and started running the wrong way, necessitating a siren to be sounded to alert the jockeys that a horse was loose on the track going the wrong way.
There were no horse or jockey injuries from what I know at this time, and the jockeys pulled the horses up shortly after the siren blared. As a result, all single race wagers were refunded. The pick 3, pick 4 and pick 5 all paid out to all horses where that race was a leg of the wager.