The final opportunity to earn a grade 1 win against straight 3-year-olds around two turns on dirt is on the horizon at Parx Racing Sept. 19, and for contenders like Further Ado and The Puma, it's an opportunity reestablish their early spring reputations.
Spendthrift Farm's Further Ado is the lone grade 1 winner in the field of 11, and fittingly was made the favorite on the morning line. However those odds are just 2-1 and there are many handicappers who will likely try to beat him.
The Brad Cox trainee will be battling the public's perception of being an inconsistent horse at times. He's been sensational at Keeneland, breaking his maiden in October and winning the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) by a combined 31 lengths. He also won the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in June, but that was in between two races where he ran subpar against the best of the division when 11th in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and fifth in the Haskell Stakes (G1).
However, Cox does not buy into the claims that the son of Gun Runner is inconsistent. The Kentucky Derby is an experience unlike anything else, and Cox is not one to hold a poor performance on the first Saturday in May against a horse. As for the Haskell, a midday storm turned the Monmouth Park track into a sloppy mess and the colt lost a shoe during the race.
"People say he's not consistent, but I think he's pretty consistent," Cox said. "I do like running at Monmouth—we've had success, we've won the Haskell twice—but it can be a weird, odd racetrack, it can be a very odd racetrack. I found that sometimes whatever happens at Monmouth kind of stays at Monmouth. I don't put a tremendous amount of stock in what happens over there when it doesn't work out. We've had a lot of horses that we thought should go over there and get the job done, and they make it a little closer on the good end and bad end than we feel like it needed to be. He's a solid horse."
Parx can also be an odd racetrack that not every runner takes to, which connections of the local contenders hope will be an advantage for the trifecta of the Aug. 18 Smarty Jones Stakes: Micanopy, Ponder and Dream, and Freedom's Echo.
But Further Ado is not the only big name in the race. Gustavo Delgado wheels back The Puma for OGMA Investments, High Step Racing, TCC Stables, YNG Stables, and JR Ranch. He defeated Further Ado in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and deepened his credentials when getting beat just a nose in the Florida Derby (G1) by Commandment. However, an infection that prompted a morning scratch from the Kentucky Derby knocked him out of the Triple Crown.
He returned in the Haskell, a stumble at the start keeping him from ever getting meaningfully involved as he finished fourth. He then ran a strong fourth in the Travers Stakes (G1) while wide on the far turn, finishing fourth behind the division's leading trio: Leading Change, Napoleon Solo, and Golden Tempo.
With those rivals removed and a third start off the layoff, the Pennsylvania Derby appears the opportune spot to finally see exactly what the son of Essential Quality is made of before he will need to tackle older runners.
Another familiar face from the spring is St. Elias Stable, William Lawrence, and Glassman Racing's Iron Honor. The son of Nyquist was runner-up to Napoleon Solo in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and then third behind him and winner Baby Vino in the Haskell. Trainer Chad Brown has kept the colt focused on this spot since.
The early spring form will be put to the test as they mix with some of the rising summer hopefuls over the 1 1/8 miles Saturday. That fresh blood proved victorious in the Travers with Leading Change, and Our Moneyman was just a neck away from beating the subsequent Travers winner July 11 in the Indiana Derby (G3).
Well seasoned for trainer Bret Calhoun, the son of Mr. Money has never been off the board in nine starts and has shown improvement in his last two starts—finishing second to Further Ado in the Matt Winn prior to the Indiana Derby. That consistency brought $2 million from KAS Stables in the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale, and he now makes his first start for the new owner.
Also likely to draw intrigue with solid summers are Augustin Stables' Zihnal, who was fourth in the Indiana Derby and returned to win the West Virginia Derby (G3) for trainer Jonathan Thomas, and Mark Breen's Sassmaster, who won a Saratoga Race Course allowance race Aug. 1 against older at 1 1/8 miles.
Parx Racing, Saturday, September 19, 2026, Race 14Entries: Pennsylvania Derby (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Zihnal (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Jonathan Thomas 8/1 2 2Iron Honor (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 124 Chad C. Brown 5/1 3 3Our Moneyman (LA) Manuel Franco 122 W. Bret Calhoun 8/1 4 4Igniter (KY) Luis Saez 122 Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. 8/1 5 5Talk to Me Jimmy (NY) Ruben Silvera 122 Rudy R. Rodriguez 12/1 6 6The Puma (KY) Javier Castellano 124 Gustavo Delgado 4/1 7 7Further Ado (KY) Flavien Prat 126 Brad H. Cox 2/1 8 8Freedom's Echo (KY) UNKNOWN 120 Guadalupe Preciado 20/1 9 9Sassmaster (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Todd A. Pletcher 10/1 10 10Micanopy (FL) Paco Lopez 122 Michael V. Simone 15/1 11 11Ponder and Dream (PA) Mychel J. Sanchez 122 Robert E. Reid, Jr. 20/1
