PEN Mile (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
PEN- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
May 30, 2025

There are many, many races that get held at PEN over the course of a year, but none will be bigger than the PEN Mile, which awards a $400.000 purse and attracts some of the best three-year-old turf horses out there. This race first appeared on our schedule in 2014 as a free race, but a year later it would become a Grade 3 and have a $500.000 purse at stake. After a brief period as a Grade 2, the race would be a Grade 3 again last year. Winning the 2024 edition was Asgar’s Classy City. He had won the BC Juvenile Turf the previous fall, but something seemed to happen to him after his PEN Mile win. He’d race again a month later and struggled in the Grade 3 Manila. While he is still active, he has not raced since then. Asgar will be looking for his third win in the race, as he’ll saddle one of our seven runners. Let’s take a look at the field:

1- Arapaho (Riggins Racing, ridden by F Geroux)- His second career start was the Grade 1 Hopeful at SAR, but that proved to be a little much for him at the time. A month after that, he was sold to Riggins Racing for $150.000, and Arapaho would perform decently in allowances, but still wasn’t looking like a “Hopeful” type horse. When we last saw him, he ran third in the $110.000 Ocala Sophomore for FL-Breds, and has since been idle for two months. During that time, he’s been worked on the grass and Riggins is hopeful that this will lead to a strong PEN Mile run.

2- Smitten (Asgar, ridden by P Lopez)- As mentioned previously, when Asgar won the PEN Mile last year, he brought the reigning BC Juvenile Turf winner to the race. This year, he is bringing a horse that just made his turf debut in his last start, a tough assignment in the Grade 1 American Turf. That was on KYD day, so the turf was soft, and Smitten ran in the middle of the field. A 68% chance of rain here on Friday as of press time may mean a similar track condition for Smitten to deal with this time around as well. Works nicely but has been hit and miss over his ten career starts.

3- Sunflowers (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Davis)- Sunflowers did not run well in any way over his first three starts, but found a way to head to GP to break his maiden in good looking fashion there. Had something been discovered? Well, maybe not, as his first time against winners was also not pretty, losing by eight lengths at CD, running dead last. He’s never raced on the turf and has never been worked publicly on the turf. Clearly, something is appealing behind the scenes, but based on his race history, that’s too much of an unknown for me.

4- Big Blue (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- Took part in the BC Juvenile Sprint last fall, and did run a close fourth in the race. His three-year-old campaign began with a couple of allowances that also saw one victory, and he would run long for the first time at KEE in April when he won the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes. However, that did not translate to a strong race in the American Turf. There is a high rain chance as of press time on Friday, but if that comes about, Big Blue won’t find it unusual as his last three races (two wins) have been on off tracks.

5- Arising (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R M Hernandez)- After getting his debut race out of the way, Arising has managed to pick up at least some portion of the purse in every race. All six of those starts have come on the turf, and three of them are wins. His lone appearance in a stake came two back in the Pasadena Stakes, where he got the head bob over Extravagant to win. For what it’s worth, Extravagant ran in the American Turf this month, and outran all of the rivals from that race that Arising sees here. It’s Arising’s graded debut, and I am confident that he will step up.

6- Bear Head (Martyparty, ridden by J R Velazquez)- While there was nothing wrong with the way that Bear Head ran on the main track, he turned into a different animal one he was moved to the grass. He’d kick off the year by winning the $100.000 Texas Turf Mile and the $215.000 Colonel Liam and would follow that up by running second in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes, to Big Blue. So, when he ran in the Grade 1 American Turf last month, he seemed very promising. Maybe it was the soft turf, but the gelding was stuck in the woods there, with a rather dismal performance. I really like that he is bouncing back right here into this race, but that rain chance has to be a little concerning if that was seen as the problem in the American Turf.

7- Zion Birdie (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Zion Birdie had a strong two-year-old season, with three strong second place efforts. This began with the $750.000 KD Juvenile in September, and then in the always very competitive Grade 2 Borbon. Up next was the BC Juvenile Turf, where he was again second, this by losing the head bob at the wire with Ello Santa, who’s gone to be very successful on the dirt. Zion Birdie has made two starts as a three-year-old, both in ungraded races, and he won the $125.000 Columbia Stakes. That’s the last time that he has run, so while others were running in the Transylvania or the American Turf, this one was getting some rest. He’s back in action here, and as long as that lost time did not mean others caught up to him, he should be considered the favorite here. Never has run an off track, so he may have to deal with that for the first time.

Prediction (dry): 6-7-4-5
Prediction (wet): 4-6-7-5

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES