PRX: Five stakes on Tuesday card
Two are preps for September G1 races
The Biz
August 17, 2026
Local runners will try to hold serve in a pair of sophomore stakes Tuesday at Parx Racing, but it won’t be easy. The two races, both with $200,000 purses, are the Cathryn Sophia for fillies and the Smarty Jones for the boys.
They serve as prep races for next month’s Grade 1 fixtures at the track, the Cotillion and Pennsylvania Derby, respectively.
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Trainer Brad Cox ships in Tap to Open, the 6-5 morning line favorite in the Cathryn Sophia. The three-year-old Tapit filly has won two straight, last out scoring in a $102,000 allowance at Ellis Park. Jockey Flavien Prat, who rode her in her maiden score at Churchill Downs, will again do the honors.
The field’s only stakes winner is the Delaware-based Miss Fulton Gal (5-1). Trained by Michael Gorham, Miss Fulton Gal, a four-time winner, owns a pair of stakes victories. Most recently she was a well-beaten fifth in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. Raul Mena, who has been aboard for all her wins, has the mount.
Parx-based horses in the Cathryn Sophia include Butch Reid trainee Project Maximus (8-1), idle since the Dec. 6 Maryland Juvenile Fillies, and Moon Halory (15-1) for trainer Jose Gonzalez-Milian.
In the Smarty Jones, locally-based trainer Butch Reid will send out the Pennsylvania-bred Ponder and Dream, who is the 8-5 morning line favorite.
Ponder and Dream is also the only stakes winner in the six-horse field. He won the state-bred Lil E. Tee by nearly 15 lengths last time out and has never been worse than third in eight local tries. Regular pilot Mychel Sanchez will ride.
Other Parx-based runners in the Smarty Jones are Freedom’s Echo (4-1), a two-time winner for trainer Lupe Preciado, and the Lou Linder-trained Star Sweeper (8-1). A two-time winner, Star Sweeper has made eight winless tries in stakes company with his best effort a runner-up finish in the Long Branch at Monmouth Park.
The card includes three other stakes races: the $75,000 PTHA President’s Sprint for three-year-olds, $75,000 State Representative’s Sprint for older runners, and $75,000 Mayor’s Mile for older horses.
Post time for the card is 12:40 EDT.
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
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