Pennsylvania Derby Odds & Analysis
by Patricia Woo | Sep 20 2010
With the end of the year approaching, the
$1M Gr. 2 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 25 is one of the last chances for 3-year-olds to tune up before the
Breeders' Cup World Championships. Top contenders First Dude, Trickmeister and Exhi are all pointing to the 1 1/8 mile event at
Parx Racing at Philadelphia Park.
Well overdue for a trip to the winner's circle is First Dude, who has been languishing on the outside looking in all year. With the exception of a fifth-place finish in the Gr. 1 Florida Derby on March 20, the Dale Romans-trained 3-year-old has come in second or third in the six races since breaking his maiden at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 30 – most notably in the Triple Crown's Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. This hard-luck son of Stephen Got Even has a blistering front-running style that he can maintain for the majority of a race – unfortunately, he has not been able to parlay that early speed into a victory, yet. First Dude has been taking on grade 1 company all year and the dip in class to the Pennsylvania Derby's grade 2, along with the absence of Preakness Stakes winner Lookin at Lucky could mean a long-awaited win on Saturday.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., has his own late-blooming entry in Trickmeister, a son of Proud Citizen. Trickmeister has earned $151,200 and is unbeaten in all four starts this year, starting with breaking his maiden at first asking on May 25 at Delaware Park. His latest win was in the Pleasant Colony Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 27, an impressive performance in which he showed a swift turn of foot. The step up in class will be Trickmeister's greatest challenge; this will be his first try at graded stakes company. Still, he has been training well at Aqueduct, turning in a 6-furlong breeze in 1:13.30 on Sept. 14 in preparation for the race.
Another late-blooming standout is Exhi, a versatile 3-year-old son of Maria's Mon trained by Todd Pletcher. After two attempts to break his maiden over conventional dirt, Exhi finally succeeded over Belmont Park's turf course in Sept. 2009. This year, he has found success racing over synthetic track, stringing together four straight victories, including the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park on March 27 and the Gr. 2 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 17. His winning streak was broken on Aug. 7 in the Gr. 2 West Virginia Derby over Mountaineer Park's conventional dirt track; the track itself did not seem to be a factor in Exhi's defeat, however, and he should not be hindered by the dirt track at Parx Racing. His most recent work has been at
Belmont Park on Sept. 19, a strong 5-furlong breeze in 1:00.47. Exhi has earned $618,698 from 11 career starts and has a record of 5-3-1.
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