Vim won an allowance at Laurel Park on March 20. Photo by The Racing Biz.
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: FAVORITE TALE UPSET
With two scratches, just four horses faced the starter in yesterday’s featured open allowance race at Parx Racing.
That number included Favorite Tale, whose only defeats in his prior five starts were a pair of third-place finishes in Grade 1 company, including last November’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Bettors made Favorite Tale, in his seasonal debut, the 3-5 favorite in the compact group. Favorite Tale made the lead early and took the field through a quarter mile in 22.49 seconds. But he was under pressure from the undefeated, though lightly raced, El Deal, and that runner took over after a half-mile in 45.86 seconds.
But neither El Deal nor Favorite Tale had any answers for the David Jacobson trainee Stallwalkin’ Dude. The six-year-old City Place gelding, last after a quarter mile, rallied while wide under a mild ride from Cornelio Velazquez and drew off to a two-length win. Running time for six furlongs was 1:10.90.
Stallwalkin’ Dude has now won 14 of 39 career starts, and the victory pushed his earnings to nearly $750,000.
ALSO…
- Trainer John Servis won a pair of Parx maiden races yesterday. Sydney Time posted an easy score in a maiden special weight test for three-year-old fillies in the sixth, and Timna took the nightcap, a $40,000 maiden claimer for three-year-old fillies. Sydney Time now has a win from two starts, and Timna has one from three.
LOOKING AHEAD: TODAY’S RACING
Parx Racing is the only regional track scheduled to run today, and it has managed to cobble together just a seven-race card with an average of fewer than seven horses per race.
- The biggest field is a group of nine in the nightcap, a $7,500 claiming race for fillies and mares. Red Rei Rei is the 5-2 favorite; last out she had a two-race win streak snapped when finishing eighth, beaten by 30 lengths…
- In the day’s second race, a maiden special weight event, a pair of New York shippers figure to take some play. Linda Rice trainee Battle Tux (6-5) ran second on debut three weeks ago at Aqueduct, opening a three-length lead at the eighth pole before being collared late and losing by a neck. And Gary Contessa’s Majestic Lassie (8-1) has been working steadily towards her debut.
