Mid-Atlantic racing roundup, September 25

Street Band upset the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing — the first Grade 1 for her and for jockey Sophie Doyle. Photo by Allison Janezic.

Plenty of racing action took place throughout the Mid-Atlantic this past week.

Here’s your five-minute read to get caught up on all of it:

LAUREL PARK

• Manny Franco came down from New York for Saturday’s stakes, and it was a worthwhile trip. He won both juvenile stakes races, taking the Laurel Futurity with heavy favorite Sharing, then scoring in the Selima Stakes with 3/1 Irish Mias. A maiden winner at Saratoga, Sharing was bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm, and is trained by Graham Motion. Irish Mias, also a Motion trainee, was bred in New Jersey by owner Isabelle de Tomaso. For more on these two races, click here.
• Goldwood dominated Monmouth Park all summer long and took her talent to Maryland on Saturday, winning the Sensible Lady Turf Dash by half a length. Jose Ferrer gave her a great trip, rating off early leader Escapade. Escapade held on well in the stretch, but Goldwood took full advantage of the long stretch, winning by half a length. This was the fifth stakes win of the year for the Jorge Duarte-trained mare, who is owned by Colts Neck Stables.
• Sunday’s card at Laurel featured two unusual races: starter handicaps going 1 1/2 miles on the grass. Lemon Zip won for the fourth time in five starts, taking the first division in impressive fashion at 1/1 odds. Tyler Conner rode him for trainer Niall Saville. The second division went to Colonial Downs invader High Noon Rider, who came from off the pace to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Brittany Russell trained the winner, while her husband, Sheldon, rode.
• Julio Correa has the lead in the jockey standings, with nine wins, while Claudio Gonzalez has seven victories to lead the trainer race.
• For more on Saturday’s De Francis Dash and BWI Turf Cup, click here.

CHARLES TOWN RACES

MONMOUTH PARK

• Meru improved his career mark to 2-for-2, taking Saturday’s Smoke Glacken Stakes. Jevian Toledo sent him to the lead early, while longshot Gravel Road tracked him intently up the backstretch. Turning for home, Meru shook off his rival, and drew away to a 3 ¼ length victory, stopping the clock in an impressive 1:08.63 for six furlongs. Colts Neck Stables and Jorge Duarte own and train the winner, respectively.
• Vast won the Sunday feature, prevailing in the Hollywood Wildcat Stakes by 2 ¼ lengths. She made a sharp three-wide move on the turn, drawing off to win in 1:11.35 over six furlongs. This filly’s now 2-for-2 on dirt, with her only loss coming in the Bolton Landing Stakes on the grass at Saratoga on August 14. She’s owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, trained by Bill Mott, and ridden by Joe Bravo. 

PARX RACING

• On the biggest day of the year at Parx, both the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion — for three-year-olds and three-year-old fillies, respectively — went to outsider. Math Wizard, a $25,000 claim earlier this year, earned Grade 1 laurels (and $600,000) while rallying to win the PA Derby, and Street Band and jockey Sophie Doyle each earned their first Grade 1 victory in the Cotillion.
• Making his graded stakes debut, King Jack won the Gallant Bob Stakes as the favorite. He rated off duelers Landeskog and Strong Will, while those two blazed through an opening quarter of 21.99 seconds. On the turn, King Jack pounced on Landeskog, who battled gamely down the stretch. In the final few yards, King Jack got clear of his rival, winning by 1 ½ lengths in 1:08.89 for six furlongs. The top two finished twelve lengths clear of third-place finisher Trophy Chaser. King Jack is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and ridden by Joel Rosario.
• Parx hosted four other listed stakes on Saturday. Pumpkin Rumble won the Alphabet Soup Handicap for Pennsylvania-breds, Trace of Grace won the other PA-bred stakes, the Plum Pretty Stakes, Coal Front took the Parx Mile, and Rocky Policy prevailed in the Turf Amazon Stakes.
• Parx hosted a pair of races for amateur jockeys on Sunday. In the first race, Derbe Glass prevailed, guiding Glenn’s Caper to a 2 1/2 length victory over Talie Lynch and Sherie Oriental. Kody Kellenberger took the second race, as Hurricane Jake went gate-to-wire and held on by 3/4 of a length. Both races were maiden claiming races at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass.
• Frankie Pennington and Mychel Sanchez are tied for the lead in the jockey standings, with 103 victories apiece. Joseph Taylor leads the trainer standings, with 71 wins.

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