Trio of Top 3-Year-Olds Clash in $1M Pennsylvania Derby

The $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) promises to be a highly interesting test for 3-year-olds.

Especially at the start of the 1 1/8-mile stakes.

Though a field of 10 was entered Sept. 20 for Saturday's matchup at Parx Racing, the spotlight will be focused on three rivals who met nearly five months ago on no less of a stage than the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

In Medina Spirit , Hot Rod Charlie , and Midnight Bourbon  the year's final major two-turn dirt race strictly for 3-year-olds has not only three standouts, but a trio of colts who each possess sharp early speed and should be within close range of each other as the field heads to the first turn.

"One of us should be pressing the others," said Doug O'Neill, who trains Hot Rod Charlie. "You have two world class riders with John Velazquez (on Medina Spirit) and Flavien Prat (on Hot Rod Charlie). Speed away from the gate seems to be an asset for Medina Spirit and I'm sure they won't take that away from him."

The Kentucky Derby turned out to be this year's best race for 3-year-olds and its most infamous at any level.

Medina Spirit took the lead at the start of the Run for the Roses and never looked back, winning by a half-length over Mandaloun , with Hot Rod Charlie another half-length back in third, and favored Essential Quality  fourth. Midnight Bourbon was bumped early and never recovered, finishing sixth.

Subsequently, a pair of blood tests that found an excessive level of the corticosteroid betamethasone in Medina Spirit has cast that outcome in doubt as the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission awaits the results of a final test at a different lab before deciding on whether or not to disqualify Medina Spirit.

After Medina Spirit tired and finished third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) behind the victorious Rombauer  and runner-up Midnight Bourbon, trainer Bob Baffert gave Zedan Racing Stables' son of Protonico   about 3 1/2 months off until he returned with a 1 1/4-length victory over Rock Your World  in the Aug. 29 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. That finish was a reversal of this past spring's Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1), when Medina Spirit finished second to Rock Your World in the 3-year-olds' final prep for the Kentucky Derby.

Of interest in the Santa Anita Derby, Medina Spirit was fourth in the early stages as Rock You World went gate-to-wire in winning by 4 1/4 lengths. Since then, the $35,000 purchase from the Whitman Sales consignment at the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Sales July Sale of 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age has been in front during the early stages of his last three starts, adding to the drama of what happens when the gates open Saturday with Hot Rod Charlie in post 7, Midnight Bourbon 8, and Medina Spirit 9.

"I would have preferred to be in the middle but I can't worry about that. We didn't want the 1," Baffert said. "Johnny will figure out something. Once they draw the race, that's it. They have all the heavyweights right next to each other. The break is always important. Once they draw, we don't worry about it. The break is important no matter what post they have."

"This is the most significant concentration of speed I've seen in a race in a long time," said David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which owns Midnight Bourbon. "I'm not talking sprinter speed. All three of these horses are confirmed, fast mile-and-an-eighth horses and usually you don't see that in a race, much less have all three line up next to each other in the starting gate." 

While Medina Spirit was given a freshening after the Preakness both Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon ran in the summer's top 3-year-old stakes with solid results.

Hot Rod Charlie, owned by Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss, rebounded from the Kentucky Derby with a brilliant effort in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1). The son of Oxbow   set the swift early pace of :46.49 in the 1 1/2-mile Test of the Champion, which would have explained an off-the-board finish. Instead, he battled until the final yards, finishing second 1 1/4 lengths behind 2-year-old champion Essential Quality.

Despite those brutal fractions, it was 11 1/4 lengths back to Rombauer in third.

Next he engaged in a classic duel with Mandaloun in the final furlong of the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park and crossed the wire first by a nose, but was disqualified and placed last when he drifted in during the stretch run under Prat, who like all jockeys in the race could only use his riding crop for safety reasons, and caused Midnight Bourbon to stumble and unseat his rider.

"We're very happy with his last breeze and he's shipped safely and soundly to Parx, so we're all smiles," O'Neill said about the grade 2 winner. "We're very optimistic."

It's been an eventful summer for Midnight Bourbon. After his sharp second in the Preakness and tumultuous trip in the Haskell, the son of Tiznow  turned in a strong effort for trainer Steve Asmussen in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), grabbing the early lead and battling to the end in a narrow, neck loss to 3-year-old male division leader Essential Quality.

"He seems to be getting better as he gets older and the year goes on," Fiske said about the grade 3 winner, "which is what we hoped for and expected. He's proven to us he's gotten better as he's gone longer. He can clearly get the distance and he's clearly fast, so we'll see how that works out Saturday."

The Travers was yet another in a string of performances that have underscored the strength and consistency of the Kentucky Derby field and the 3-year-old crop in general.

"It has been a really good class of 3-year-olds this year and I am grateful and blessed that 'Charlie' fits in with the top tier," O'Neill said. "It's been a solid and very honest class. They have all kept showing up for every dance which is hard to have young horses do that. They have matured and continued to have their performances rise. It's been fun to watch and fun to be part of."

The other seven starters will be hoping to benefit from some rapid fractions.

Heading that group is the late-running Keepmeinmind  (post 2), a son of Laoban   owned by Cyprus Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith, and Spendthrift Farm. Trained by Robertino Diodoro, the grade 1-placed Keepmeinmind was seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness before finishing second to Essential Quality in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saturday's 1 1/8-mile distance. In the Travers, he ran evenly and finished fourth to bring his earnings up to $739,987 despite having just one win in 11 starts.

Chiefswood Stables' Weyburn  (post 4) sat out the Triple Crown, but showed his class by finishing second by a neck to Mandaloun in the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth after leading midway through the race. A son of Pioneerof the Nile trained by Jimmy Jerkens, he has not raced since finishing fourth in the July 31 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course.

The field also includes Juddmonte's Fulsome  (post 1), winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3) at Parx, Saratoga allowance winner Speaker's Corner  (post 3), the Pennsylvania-bred stakes winner I Am Redeemed  (post 5), Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) winner Bourbonic  (post 6), and the New York-bred Albany Stakes victor Americanrevolution  (post 10).

"There are some up-and-comers in there," O'Neill said. "It's a strong field, which is what you would expect for a grade 1 $1 million race."

Entries: Pennsylvania Derby (G1)

Parx Racing, Saturday, September 25, 2021, Race 12

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $1,000,000
• 3 yo
• 5:49 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Fulsome (KY)	Florent Geroux	124	Brad H. Cox	-
2	Keepmeinmind (KY)	Joel Rosario	119	Robertino Diodoro	-
3	Speaker's Corner (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	119	William I. Mott	-
4	Weyburn (ON)	Paco Lopez	124	James A. Jerkens	-
5	I Am Redeemed (PA)	Abner Adorno	119	Penny Pearce	-
6	Bourbonic (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	124	Todd A. Pletcher	-
7	Hot Rod Charlie (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Doug F. O'Neill	-
8	Midnight Bourbon (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	124	Steven M. Asmussen	-
9	Medina Spirit (FL)	John R. Velazquez	126	Bob Baffert	-
10	Americanrevolution (NY)	Luis Saez	122	Todd A. Pletcher	-