Divine Miss Grey Coasts to Victory in Penny Memorial
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Photo: Barbara Weidl/EQUI-PHOTO
Divine Miss Grey and Junior Alvarado win the Dr. James Penny Memorial at Parx Racing
After the race was sent off the turf because of rainy conditions, Corms Racing Stable and R.A. Hill Stable's Divine Miss Grey took the sloppy track and coasted home to win the $200,000 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes over 1 1/16 miles Sept. 8 at Parx Racing.
A main-track entrant to the Penny Memorial, Divine Miss Grey broke cleanly from the gate to take the lead, and ticked off fractions of :23.81, :47.51, and 1:11.88 through the first six furlongs. Drawing away at the three-eighths pole, the filly opened up her lead from one length to five at the top of the stretch. The Danny Gargan trainee hit the wire 7 3/4 lengths ahead in a final time of 1:43.49.
Truth in the Lies and Care Lady, the only two challengers on the field, finished second and third, respectively. Dream Awhile, Lift Up, Mythical Mission, and Stormy Victoria were scratched when the race for older fillies and mares changed surfaces. Because of the surface switch, the Penny Memorial was downgraded from its grade 3 status pending review by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
If the race retains its graded status, the victory would be the first graded win for the 4-year-old daughter of Divine Park. Divine Miss Grey opened her season with back-to-back listed wins in the Interborough and Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Ractrack.The filly entered Saturday's 1 1/16-mile test off a third place finish in the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park.
Bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones out of the Friends Lake mare Seattle Grey, Divine Miss Grey is a half sister to grade 2-placed Divine Dawn. She was purchased for $100,000 by Jim and Susan Hill from her breeder at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She was claimed by Corms Racing Stable in May of 2017 for $40,000 after her win in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint at Belmont Park.
Divine Miss Grey improved her record to 10-4-1 from 20 starts with earnings of $483,672.