The country's 'other' top filly, Careless Jewel,to run at Philadelphia Park
The best horse in the country is a 3-year-old filly. She won't be racing anywhere the rest of 2009. The second-best horse in the country might also be a 3-year-old filly. She will be racing tomorrow at Philadelphia Park.
The best horse in the country is a 3-year-old filly. She won't be racing anywhere the rest of 2009. The second-best horse in the country might also be a 3-year-old filly. She will be racing tomorrow at Philadelphia Park.
Rachel Alexandra's brilliant season is over. Careless Jewel, winner of the Delaware Oaks and Grade I Alabama Stakes by a combined 18 1/4 lengths, will be a heavy favorite in the $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion at the Pha. But she won't be racing alone.
Cat Moves, winner of the Grade I Prioress Stakes and trained by Newtown-based Tony Dutrow, offers serious competition on what the track is calling Ladies Day. Jeremy Rose will be in to ride.
All 11 races on the card will be for fillies and mares. Races 1, 2, 4 and 8 will feature only female riders in a jockeys challenge. The track will donate $25,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast-cancer awareness organization.
The Cotillion includes multiple-stakes winner Just Jenda from Larry Jones' strong barn and Bon Jovi Girl, so impressive for trainer Tim Ritchey in winning the Susan's Girl at Delaware Park on June 20.
The Dee Curry-trained Key Lime Baby will represent the locals. Jose Flores has the mount. Tony Dutrow's brother, Rick, trainer of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, has the super consistent Mary's Follies. Stewart Elliott rides Careless Jewel, who lost her first career race in April and has not come close to losing since. Her four wins have been by a Rachel-like 29 lengths. Based at Woodbine outside Toronto and trained there by Josie Carroll, Careless Jewel will be ridden by Canadian-based jockey Robert Landry.
The Cotillion is the country's richest race for 3-year-old fillies. Next year, it will be the week after the Pennsylvania Derby, which will be moved from Labor Day to late September, 4 weeks after the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
That will give the racing office a real chance to get the top 3-year-olds for the Pa. Derby and be able to use both races as final preps for the Breeders' Cup.
It is no secret to Pha regulars that, since slot machines went into the facility in December 2006, racing has not exactly been a priority. With slots moving to a new building in December and the track facility to be restored by next summer to what it used to look like, it is the right time for the racing side to get the attention it deserves.
Days like tomorrow and the changes to the schedule are a nice start. The first and fifth floors will again be exclusively devoted to racing. The second and fourth floors are used for administrative offices. The third floor will be left empty after the slots are removed. If table games come to Pennsylvania, the third floor very likely would become a large poker room. *