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

It was a rainy day in the northeast today, and PRX would not be spared from mother nature. The wet weather left the turf course as soft. That would be great news for the longest shot on the board, Barr, as the gelding would go off at odds of nearly 11/1. When you pick four horses in a five horse field, it will also show which one you are picking to finish at the back, and in the preview that would be Barr. In hindsight, I wish I would have noticed that WO work from April on soft going because I might have thought a little better about his chances on an off track. Certainly, this horse bounced back in an impressive fashion from a tough outing at TAM, and it will be interesting to see how he follows this race up. Barr is trained by Wood Duck Stables, and it’s their first win in the race. The one time HRP great F Pennington gets the victory, his first. Congratulations to them! The time of the win on the soft going was 1:45.28. Let’s take a look!

(1/4 Mile- :23.87)- Cephalonian was not bothered by the soft turf coming out of the gate, as the First Flight Stable entry bursts out to a large lead of about five lengths. The rest of the field is not bothered by that, and lets him have the advantage. Unceasingly runs second for Wolf Ridge Stable, and it’s one more length to the third place Rattle Cage, out of La Canada Racehorses. Next in line is Angelos Stable’s Mulch, and at the back of the field early is the eventual winner, Wood Duck Stables- trained, Barr. He has a gap of nine lengths to make up on the pacesetter.

(½ Mile- :48.16)- Surely, over the second quarter mile, A Wolfsont would look to reel in Cephalonian just a little bit it. That would not be the case, as he would only extend his lead, as it is now as many as seven lengths. Would he be a sitting duck, or could he actually hang on like this all the way to the end? After that large gap, not much is changing, so no one is concerned about Cephalonian’s big lead. Unceasingly is still second, then Rattle Cage, and Mulch, with Barr now ten lengths off the lead.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Towards the end of the backstretch trip, F Pennington decided enough is enough and moved Barr three wide to first pass Mulch, and then work on Unceasingly and Rattle Cage. None of them put up any sort of fight, so Barr was in second pretty quickly within the turn. He continued to cut into the advantage of Cephalonian, which was still about 4-5 lengths. However, he was tiring, and Barr was coming on strong. No one else though was making a move.

(Finish- 1:45.28)- Barr was in an all out drive in the stretch, quickly cutting into the deficit to the race leader. Cephalonian was not packing it in, but did not have anything for Barr in the stretch, allowing the eventual winner to make an easy pass for the win! There was no one else coming, so Barr would make all his non believers eat their words with a two length victory. Cephalonian was good enough to hold on for second, as no one else made a move in the stretch. Rattle Cage would be third best, over Unceasingly and Mulch.

About The Winner- Barr, trained by Wood Duck Stables and ridden to victory by F Pennington, is a three year old gelding by Niner Forty Niner, and is out of Attorney General. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania as a second quarter two year old by his trainer and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in seven starts, and first stake win. His career earnings are now $112.300.

Track: Soft
Time: :23⁴  :48   1:12⁴  1:45¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 4 Paid 90.40
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 4 – 5 Paid 38.00

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded