Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Disco Chick looks to end skid
The first two stakes of the Parx Racing season, the Lyman and Foxy J. G. on Saturday, have come up strong, with large, competitive lineups. The $100,000 races are for Pennsylvania-breds at seven furlongs.
The Foxy J. G., with a field of 10 fillies and mares, is topped by the fast 6-year-old Disco Chick, who won this race a year ago. Standing in her way are last year’s Delaware Oaks winner, Dark Nile; Rowd E Allie, a winner of four of her last five races; and a 3-year-old facing older rivals, Rose Tree.
Page McKenney is the horse to beat in the Lyman, but the distance is a bit short for him, and he will be making his first start in 10 weeks. His chief rivals figure to be Tale of E Dubai, a winner of two of his last three; Someday Jones, who has lost only once in his last four starts; and Duval.
To defeat Disco Chick, you are going to have to catch her. That is not impossible, though, since she is winless in 10 starts since taking the Foxy J. G. last June. She has finished second in her last four races.
Still, Disco Chick will be taking a significant drop in class. The winners of her last five races, all open stakes, are Clothes Fall Off, Takrees, Sweet On Smokey, Paulassilverlining, and Stonetastic. Disco Chick is trained by Mario Serey Jr. and will be ridden by Hector Caballero.
Dark Nile will be making her first start since the Grade 1 Alabama last August. She came out of that race with an ankle chip, according to trainer Arnaud Delacour, and rehabbed at her owner’s WinStar Farm.
As she moves on this year, Dark Nile is likely to race at longer distances.
“She is doing very well and has been back with us since January,” Delacour said. “The distance is a touch short for her maybe, but there looks to be a lot of speed in the race, and she may be able to pick up the pieces.”
The path to the Lyman winner’s circle goes through Page McKenney. Even though it may not be at his preferred distance, he did win the Grade 3 General George at seven furlongs in 2016.
Page McKenney was under consideration for the Charles Town Classic but skipped that race in favor of the Lyman. Since his rough-trip second in the Harrison Johnson Memorial, Page McKenney missed some training time with a bruised heel, according to trainer Mary Eppler. He also missed a key work for the Classic when the Pimlico main track was closed for repairs earlier this month.
Tale of E Dubai and Duval both have more early speed than Page McKenney and will be dangerous if they can shake free early in this 12-horse field.
Laurel: Four allowances
Laurel Park doesn’t have a stakes Saturday, but the 11-race card is nevertheless interesting. It begins with the first 2-year-old race of the Maryland season and includes four allowance or optionalclaiming races. Six of the races are scheduled for turf.
Race 8, a second-level optional claimer for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, will match the impressive comeback winner Shimmering Aspen against a pair of horses returning from layoffs, Midnight On Oconee and Great Soul.
Shimmering Aspen, a Malibu Moon filly, was purchased for $200,000 as a yearling in 2015. She was 1 for 2 last year and recently returned from a sevenmonth layoff to win a firstlevel optional-claiming sprint. Trained by Rodney Jenkins, she is the only 3-year-old in the field.
Midnight On Oconee finished second in both the Silverbulletday and Rachel Alexandra stakes last year at Fair Grounds. She makes her first start since June for Larry Jones, who is 6 for 17 at the meet coming into the weekend.
Great Soul will be making her debut for trainer Tom Proctor and her first start in 13 months. Last year, when trained by Tim Keefe, she won the Wide Country Stakes and was second in the Caesar’s Wish at Laurel.
In race 4, a competitive second-level optional-claiming race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf, the main players look to be Conscription, Speak Up Sailor, and Giovanna Blues.
Conscription enters off a pair of runner-up finishes at Tampa Bay Downs for Graham Motion. Speak Up Sailor finished second in a similar race two weeks ago while making her Laurel debut for Michael Stidham.
Giovanna Blues will be making her first start since winning a first-level allowance over Tapeta at Woodbine in November. She is now in the stable of Michael Dickinson.