PARX PICKS AND HORSES TO WATCH: Oct. 12

Notapradaprice
Notapradaprice won the 2019 G3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes at Parx. Photo by RJ Umberger /EQUI-PHOTO.
  • userFrank Vespe
  • dateOctober 12, 2021

Parx Racing has an 11-race card on tap for this afternoon. Post time for the opener is 12:55p.m., and we’ve got Parx picks.

Carryovers: Jackpot Pick 5, $66,053

Check out our other handicapping here!

RACE NUMBERCONTENDERSCOMMENTS
Race 910-8-6-7The challenge for the likely favorite in here, #10 Uncle Ernie (9-5), is the presence of other speed to his outside. He’s led at the first call in all four of his career starts, two of them wins, but today may have to hustle away from the gate to outfoot another speedster, #12 Fore Harp (12-1). How those two sort out the front end will go a long way towards determining the final outcome of the race… If they heat the pace up, one likely beneficiary is #8 Alpha Sixty Six (10-1), who is quite the intriguing entrant. Now trained by Kate Demasi, Alpha Sixty Six won at first asking in 2019 when trained by Todd Pletcher, was a credible fifth behind Tiz the Law in the G1 Champagne, and then was the beaten favorite in the G2 Remsen. But he’s been away since finishing fourth in an Oaklawn allowance in February 2020. His work tab is good enough to give you hope, though not strong enough on the page to be dispositive. You kinda thought he could be any kind when he started; now, more than 20 months since his last start, what will he show?
Race 96-3-4-10The $100,000 Ballezzi Appreciation Mile brings together a solid group of veterans, but it’s a relative newcomer we’re most interested in. #6 I Am Redeemed (8-1) didn’t have any answers last out, but we’re not inclined to hold that against him too much. He stepped out of state-bred company to tackle some of the best sophomores in the country in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby and found those waters a little too deep in just the fifth start of his career. Prior to that, he’d won three of four, including a sharp score in the PA-bred Storm Cat Stakes, and had shown plenty of promise. Trainer Penny Pearce’s charge showed he’s not a Grade 1 animal — not yet anyway — in that last. This salty contest, with a much less flashy group, should do more to indicate where he fits. He’ll get Lasix back on, and Abner Adorno, who’s ridden him in his last three, will man the controls… Chances are #3 Lord Winsalot (15-1) isn’t good enough to win this event, but he does figure to be the one they’ll have to catch…

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