Region’s Best

FIRST STAR: MICHAEL PINO. Pino achieved a career milestone last Monday at Parx. Entering the race day, he had 1,998 career wins. He got win #1,999 in race 2 with odds-on choice Pontiffany, and joined the 2,000-win club in race 6, when Holdtheflight won a first-level allowance optional claiming race by almost ten lengths. Both winners were owned by Bing Cherry Racing Inc. and ridden by Mychel Sanchez. Pino won his first race in 1983 in Atlantic City, and his horses have gone on to earn more than $43 million since. His notable runners include Boston Common, Ten Keys, Wallyanna, Forest Park, Smooth Maneuvers, and Fortheluvofbourbon.

SECOND STAR: BEREN. Tuesday’s card at Parx was headlined by the 2023 debut of Pennsylvania-bred sprinting star Beren. Sent off as the 1-5 favorite in an open allowance race, he broke on top and never had an anxious moment as he crossed the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front. He ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18.10 for his tenth career win. He’s a nominee to the February 18 General George Stakes at Laurel Park. He’s owned by St. Omer’s Farm and Christopher Feifarek, trained by Butch Reid, and ridden by Frankie Pennington.

THIRD STAR: TORCH OF TRUTH. Maryland-bred Plot the Dots was the odds-on choice in Sunday’s feature at Laurel Park, a third-level allowance optional claiming race at Laurel Park. However, he was flat most of the way and got going too late, ending up second. Meanwhile, 8-year-old Torch of Truth came from off the pace to win by five lengths for his second consecutive win. He’s now 7-8-5 from 33 lifetime starts and has earned $352,710. He’s owned by Marie Trombetta, trained by Mike Trombetta, and ridden by Jeiron Barbosa.

Laurel Park

FIRST STAR: TORCH OF TRUTH. He might be finding his best self as an 8-year-old.

SECOND STAR: RESPONSE TIME. Maryland-bred mare fended off Princess Kokachin for a solid allowance win on Saturday.

THIRD STAR: EXCELLORATOR. Another Maryland-bred rounds out the top three; he won a stirring stretch duel with Shaft’s Bullet for a second-level allowance optional claiming win on Saturday.

Charles Town Races

FIRST STAR: WHISKEY AND RYE. She went gate-to-wire to take a second-level allowance optional claiming dash on Thursday; could be another stakes-bound sprinting mare for Jerry Robb.

SECOND STAR: GOLDEN KEY. Dashed clear and held on to win a second-level race of his own on Thursday, albeit with a lower Equibase figure than Whiskey and Rye.

THIRD STAR: POSITIVE PHIL. Rated off the pace and kicked away to win a first-level allowance on Wednesday for his second win of the year.

Parx Racing

FIRST STAR: MICHAEL PINO. A training milestone for a Parx stalwart.

SECOND STAR: BEREN. Wouldn’t be surprising to see this one in the General George in a few weeks.

THIRD STAR: FAR MO POWER. This Pennsylvania-bred made his first start since October a winning one in an open allowance race on Monday.