Parx Racing’s blockbuster Saturday card features a pair of $1 million events – the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion – plus three other graded events and a bevy of additional stakes. For good measure, two of the most interesting horses in the country – the sophomore filly Thorpedo Anna and six-year-old gelding Next – are among the runners expected to post.

Here are some questions to consider for the biggest Pennsylvania racing day of the year:

CAN ANYONE BEAT NEXT IN THE G3 GREENWOOD CUP?

Well, sure, it is a horse race, after all.

But really, if you bet against, you’re betting either on a horse running a race he’s never previously run or on Next running far worse than he has in more than a year. Either could happen, of course, but it’s a pretty thin reed to wager on.

Next, trained by William Cowans, is 1-5 on the morning line. He’s won six straight and eight of nine and won this race by 25 lengths a year ago. In his last five starts, his narrowest margin of victory was 9 ¼ lengths.

For good measure: he’s recorded a 101 Beyer speed figure or higher in each of his last six outings. No other runner in the field has ever run a 101 BSF. The only horse here to have reached a 100 Beyer fig previously is Ridin With Biden, whose lone race with a 100 came in 2022. That was two races prior to his win in that year’s Greenwood Cup.

SPEAKING OF, CAN ANYONE BEAT THORPEDO ANNA IN THE GRADE 1 COTILLION?

Probably not, but it’s a more interesting case than the Next case.

The Kenny McPeek-trained daughter of Fast Anna won the first four starts of her 2024 campaign with increasing ease, with three of those, the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, and Coaching Club American Oaks, coming in Grade 1 company. She then logged arguably the best race of her career when a near-miss second against the boys in the Grade 1 Travers. In that event, she earned a career-best 111 Beyer speed fig.

If she runs another 111, she wins here with ease. Even if she doesn’t, she could still win with ease.

But if she bounces a bit, can anyone jump up and get the money?

Sure. Perhaps the most likely candidate is last-out Grade 1 Alabama winner Power Squeeze. The Jorge Delgado trainee beat the lightly-raced, well-regarded Sidamara (who’s also here) two back in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks and then just got the nod over favorite Candied in the Alabama. She’s certainly a horse moving in the right direction.

But we’re thinking the most intriguing runner is Mystic Lake, especially if the 12-1 morning line holds. She’s won two graded stakes in her last three starts, including a smashing win last time out in the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks, which she took by nearly six lengths.

Which isn’t bad for a horse who was beaten 24 lengths in her debut while getting a Beyer fig of… wait for it… 3!

“She just keeps getting better and better,” Saffie Joseph, her trainer, said. “I never envisioned she would get this good.”

The Cotillion will be her first route race on dirt, but her breeding says that shouldn’t be an issue, and the way she finished up in the seven-furlong Charles Town Oaks suggests there was more in the tank.

Mike Smith has the return mount.

WHO DA YA LIKE IN THE GRADE 1 PENNSYLVANIA DERBY?

Field quality-wise, this is not a vintage edition of the Pennsylvania Derby. The 11 entered have a combined total of two Grade 1 wins, those belonging to Seize the Grey in the Preakness and Stronghold in a middling edition of the Santa Anita Derby.

That said, it’s an intriguing handicapping puzzle, a race with plenty of horses with early zip that could benefit a tactical sort or even a closer. Stronghold, the morning line favorite, is one horse that could fit the bill; two others at enticing odds are Timeout (10-1) and Uncle Heavy (12-1).

The former has a win from five career starts and most recently was second in a Saratoga allowance. So why the love? Well, for one thing, the Curlin colt should get the right setup to unleash his late run. For another, he’s trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who’s not in the habit of running horses where they don’t belong; in fact, his 17% strike rate in graded stakes is equal to his win percentage in all races. In other words, if he’s putting the horse in the race, he must like how he’s coming into it and believe he has a chance to contend. Oh, and Joel Rosario in the irons doesn’t hurt, either.

The latter’s last three starts have come in races with moderate early paces that permitted the front-runners to stick around to the end. He may get a better setup in this contest. The Butch Reid trainee, based at Parx, didn’t run poorly last out when third in the Smarty Jones while chasing a tepid pace and has the right to move forward here. Mychel Sanchez will ride.

CAN BENTORNATO RECAPTURE HIS WINNING WAYS IN THE GRADE 2 GALLANT BOB?

The Jose D’Angelo trainee impressed early, winning the first four starts of his career before getting upset in a state-bred stake that was his first try around two turns.

He then went to Saudi Arabia, where he finished third in the Grade 3 Saudi Derby behind future Grade or Group 1 winners Forever Young (UAE Derby, third in the Kentucky Derby) and Book’em Danno (Woody Stephens Stakes) – a result that only burnished his credentials.

Then he went to the sidelines for six months.

When he returned, he ran well to be second in the Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town, earning a career-best 99 Beyer speed fig.

There are other ways to go, of course. Buccherino, a last out winner over the strip, and Concern winner Sunny Breeze are two that intrigue. But on best, Bentornato should find his way back to the winner’s circle.

CAN SEVEN’S ELEVEN SPRING A SURPRISE IN THE PARX DIRT MILE?

In an interesting renewal of the Parx Dirt Mile, Seven’s Eleven (8-1) rates some consideration at a price.

The morning line favorite here is Coastal Mission (5-2). The West Virginia-bred Jeff Runco trainee has been butting heads against graded stakes types of late, finishing second in both the Salvator Mile (G3) and Nerud (G2) before finishing fourth last out on his home track in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic.

As for Seven’s Eleven, then-trainer Carlos Mancilla had him going well late last year and into the early months of this season. He won the Maryland Million Sprint and Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial late last year, and this year, he ran second to multiple graded winner Post Time twice, including in the Grade 3 General George.

Then he went to the sidelines and remained there for over five months before re-emerging with new equipment, blinkers on, and a new trainer in Nesvil Bailon. He tried the blinks twice and ran two mediocre races, but when Bailon peeled the shades off, the old Seven’s Eleven emerged, winning a Laurel allowance and earning a career-best Beyer fig of 99.

Seven’s Eleven has a win and two other in-the-money finished from five starts at the one-mile distance, but here’s an oddity: four of the five are at Laurel’s one-turn mile, and the fifth came at Timonium, which is around three turns. This will be his first conventional two-turn mile.

Is he back? If so, he can be a player with these.

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