PA Nursery Stakes ($200.000 Purse)
PRX- For Two Year Olds Foaled in PA
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
December 7, 2021

We’re racing in the middle of the week this week as the 12th running of the PA Nursery Stakes takes place at PRX. Pennsylvania is likely the game’s most underrated breeding state, and it is exciting to see young PA breds going to post here for a healthy purse. That has not always been the case, as last year it ran for under $100.000, and in years prior it only ran for $100.000, so let’s hope this new purse level remains! Last year, Mb Stables showed that he has some good PA-breds in his barn, even if he was not the one to breed them, as he would win with Fairly Lucky. The gelding went on to win the Affirmed this year and placed fourth in the Haskell and is still running well. In this race, four trainers have brought six horses to take part. Let’s take a look at them!

#1- Mulch (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by J A Vargas Jr)- On the rail, this Niner Forty Niner gelding comes here off of breaking his maiden at KEE in late October. It would be his third career start, and first as a gelding. He would not go to sleep after his August race before being gelded, and that really seemed to pay off as the trainer also bumped him up in competition level. Wood Duck’s other entry might seem to be the better option, but Mulch could surprise.

#2- Warrior Of Chiefs (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- We last saw this gelding running in the BC Juvenile last month, the only horse in this field to have been in that race. He seemed destined for better than his 12th place finish because he came into that race looking pretty good in a runner up at the Grade 1 Pharoah. He had two wins prior to that, and this is a great spot for him to get back some of the confidence if any was lost in the BC. Resume wise, he is the one to beat.

#3- Realms Of Gold (Acber Farms, ridden by K Carmouche)- There was no waiting for the Just You Wait colt to break his maiden, winning on debut against PA-breds in April, but since then he has yet to see victory. He nearly did so in the $100.000 McDermott for PA-breds, but was unable to step up to unrestricted company a month later in the Bowman Mill. He’ll like running against statebreds here, but there are a couple faces in here that he has not seen before that can make this a true challenge.

#4- The Skipper Too (Arindel, ridden by N Juarez)- Here is the most experienced horse in the field in that he has made seven starts up to this point, and three of them have been victories. If you throw out his two turf starts, his winning percentage is even better at three out of five. He’s won his last two, including a PA-bred allowance, and an allowance at DED. Those turf starts gave him stake experience and that can only help. Much to like here.

#5- Pro Time (Williams9, ridden by J Laprida)- Winning on debut is tough, but doing so at SAR in August is a pretty hard task no matter who you are. And Pro Time learned that lesson, but did bounce well and break his maiden last month at FL in his next start after the SAR debacle. This is a big jump, and I’m not really seeing it in the public works, so the best news must be in farm works. You never know, though.

#6- Bladamiro (Arindel, ridden by Ru Silvera)- Finally, this Soviet Warrior colt has been seeing steady improvement in his works of late and seems poised to have a strong here. His second career start is where he broke his maiden, doing so against PA breds at PID in October. Off of that, he was entered into the $100.000 Atlantic Beach, which meant a move to the turf. All things considered, he ran well there, and placed third, and now comes back to the main track, where I think he has a lot of promise. So much so, he is my pick to win.

Prediction: 6-2-1-4

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded