Pennsylvania-Breds Rule Penn National Stakes
The second biggest card of the year for Penn National Race Course included three stakes races, the $75,000 Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies, $100,000 Swatara, and $200,000 Fabulous Strike, and featured Pennsylvania-bred winners in all three affairs. In the feature of the night, 1-2 choice Favorite Tale passed with flying colors as the class of the field. Sent off as the heavy favorite, and deservedly so after coming off a 3rd place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Pennsylvania-bred Favorite Tale made his Penn National debut a winning one when scoring by 2 lengths in the Wednesday night feature.
Gunned to the lead straight from the start, Favorite Tale maintained a short advantage over Woodford Stakes winner and 3-1 second choice, Amelia’s Wild Ride, through fractions of 22.05 for the quarter and 45.19 for the half before turning for home and kicking clear to a 2 ½ length lead while all others close to the pace faltered. Majestic Hussar, the 87-1 longest shot on the board, rallied from the back of the pack along the rail to grab 2nd, and Galiana, 56-1 and the lone mare in the field, closed from dead last to catch Amelia’s Wild Ride for 3rd. Fan favorite Ben’s Cat failed to fire and struggled home 7th in the field of 8.
The win was the 3rd on the year for the 4yo son of Tale of the Cat and 8th overall from 18 lifetime starts. Favorite Tale was the first horse other than Ben’s Cat to win the Fabulous Strike, with the latter winning the first three renditions of the race.
Earlier in the card, Pennsylvania-bred Page McKenney returned to Penn National, where he won the Robellino Stakes this past August, to land another stakes win in the $100,000 Swatara Stakes. Returning off only an 11 day layoff since winning the Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel Park, Page McKenney gallantly held off a late charging Kid Cruz to win the 1 1/16th mile affair in 1:44.08. Catron rounded out the trifecta.
The $75,000 Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds was the first stakes race of the night and featured one who could turn out to be a potential future star. Behrnik’s Bank, by freshman sire Bank Heist, ran to her 2-5 odds when dominating the field by 13 lengths. Sent straight to the lead, the impressive winner opened to a 10 length lead after the half, and a 13 length lead by the top of the stretch, which she maintained to the wire. Lighting up the toteboard with fractions of 22.36, 44.95, and 57.18, Behrnik’s Bank stopped the clock in 1:10.22, .78 seconds faster than Favorite Tale later on the card. In her only previous start, Behrnik’s Bank demolished a maiden special weight field at Penn National by 18 ½ lengths. Lying low at her local track, could this 2yo filly be a star in the making? From a top level sprinter displaying his class, a tested veteren having his best season to date, and a young up and comer, Pennsylvania-breds were well represented for Penn National’s second biggest card of the year. Hopefully the 2016 calendar year brings much more success for Wednesday night’s stakes winners!