Crowd Pleaser ($100.000 Purse)
PRX- For Three Year Olds Foaled In PA
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
June 27, 2022

We’ll get some Monday racing this week, as the great breeding state of Pennsylvania features the sixth running of the Crowd Pleaser, sending three year olds a little over a mile on the turf course at PRX. There will only be five going to post, and they will be hoping to live up to the name of the race. The stake debuted in 2012, but has not run every year, perhaps because not enough horses are being bred in this fantastic state. I hype up breeding in PA whenever I can, because the advantages of New York, California, Florida, or Ontario are well known and don’t need the hype. But here in PA, there are three tracks that offer quality statebred racing, and a good card of statebred stakes like this one that can slot in right behind the bigger name states. The Crowd Pleaser was not held last year, but 2020 winner Through The World has gone on to have a good career for La Canada Racehorses. That’s a lead that all five of the horses here look to follow. Here they are!

#1- Mulch (Angelos Stable, ridden by Ru Silvera)- Last year, Mulch ran in the $200.000 PA Nursery Stakes, but after setting the pace of the race, he tired to finish near the back. He’s been getting much better since, finishing off his career with Wood Duck Stables with a couple of second place runs before being claimed by Angelos Stable. He debuted here in his new silks last month in an allowance, and won, so now it’s back to the PA-bred stake ranks. Running on the turf, however, is completely new to him. How he handles it is obviously the most important factor with him. If he can, he may the class of this field.

#2- Unceasingly (Wolf Ridge Stable, ridden by M J Sanchez)- Grabbing my attention first on this horse is his sire, Relentless, but this is for selfish reasons. It’s a horse I had very high hopes on a years ago that eventually thrived with TwinTowersRacing. Now, he’s in his life as a sire and has produced two winners of his ten race-age foals. One of them is Unceasingly, who’s been a bit inconsistent (much like his dad) but has run well at times and makes his stake debut. Two wins in seven starts, and if the key to him will be like the handling of his dad, it might just take unceasingly high patience to reap the rewards. Liked his run at LS, and while this is who I’ll be rooting for, I’m not ready to pick him.

#3- Barr (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- In his last start, Barr struggled out of the gate and was never able to recover. Hopefully, we can make that a throw out, because he has done much better when running on or near the lead. At the same time, though, he did come from behind nicely at SA earlier in his career. He had a sharp looking effort in a claimer at SA in March, which for him is only two starts ago. That horse must show up to have a shot here, though I feel I can trust others a little more.

#4- Cephalonian (First Flight Stable, ridden by A Wolfsont)- After mostly running on the main track and eventually breaking his maiden there, Cephalonian returned to the grass last month and ran third in a PIM allowance. He met up with a solid field that day, and it may be that I like that result more than I should, but that field was every bit as good as what he sees her, and he was coming on well in the end. That kind of effort can get it done, but can we count on him to deliver it? The blips on his resume as from sprints, so they don’t apply here. I like this chances, a lot.

#5- Rattle Cage (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by J Laprida)- The trainer didn’t get a chance to defend his title last year, but now will look to win the race again. If he does, it will be with another one bred by Joshua Stables, one of the top (if not the top) breeders in the Keystone State. The Timber Rattler gelding has won just once in eight starts, and the elephant in the room might be that he needs a wet track to be at his best (psst, 86% chance of showers here on Monday), but he makes his La Canada Racehorses debut here, and this trainer still gets it done with new acquisitions to his stable.

Prediction (dry): 4-1-5-2
Prediction (wet): 5-2-4-1

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded