Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will be looking for his record fifth victory when he sends out favored Reincarnate on Saturday in the 43rd running of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing.
Owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan, Reincarnate was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the $1 million race, which drew a field of 11.
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Reincarnate, who will have Juan Hernández riding for the first time at Parx, will start from the outside post 11.
“Oh, man, I am going to hang up,” Baffert said with a laugh by phone from California when told of Reincarnate’s post for the 1 1/8-mile race. “It means lucky 11. I was hoping to get in the middle somewhere, but you can’t change it. He’s still going.”
Reincarnate, a son of Good Magic, last raced July 8, when he won the Los Alamitos Derby in gate-to-wire fashion by 2 1/2 lengths.
This season he has two wins and two thirds in five starts. Before Los Alamitos he was 13th in the Kentucky Derby.
“This race is going to be a good step up for him,” Baffert said. “He ran really well at Los Alamitos. He is going to have to break well and show up. That’s the main thing. If he shows up, I don’t see why he wouldn’t run well.”
FMQ Stables’ Saudi Crown, trained by Brad Cox, is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line. The son of Always Dreaming has been idle since a gutty, second-place finish behind Forte in the Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga on July 29. He was also second in the Dwyer (G3) on May 21 at Belmont Park. He will be ridden by Florent Géroux.
Pennsylvania Derby 2023 odds and analysis.
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Magic Tap, the 5-1 third choice on the morning line. The lightly raced son of Tapit will be making his stakes debut in the Penn Derby after winning an allowance race by a neck at Saratoga on Aug. 13. Magic Tap, who will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, has two wins and two seconds in his four career starts, all this year.
Scotland, owned by LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, will try to build on his sixth-place finish Aug. 26 in the Travers (G1) at Saratoga. He makes his first start since with regular rider Júnior Alvarado. He is the 6-1 fourth choice on the morning line.
Eduardo Soto’s Il Miracolo (8-1) comes into the Penn Derby after winning the Smarty Jones (G3) on Aug. 22 at Parx for trainer Antonio Sano.
Gilmore, owned by the same connections as Reincarnate, was fourth in the Amsterdam (G2) on July 28 at Saratoga, where he then won an allowance Aug. 30. The Brendan Walsh-trained son of Twirling Candy is 10-1 on the morning line and will be paired with Hall of Famer John Velázquez, who rode him in his first start nine races ago.
“The last race and the way the horse has gone in general gives us more confidence going into this race,” Walsh said. “He’s doing great, really improving as the year has went on. We feel like it’s time to give him a shot at something like this.”
Dreamlike, trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is 10-1 on the morning line and is coming off a pair of Saratoga races. The son of Gun Runner owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable broke his maiden July 14 and was fifth in an allowance Aug. 13. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride.
Completing the field are Daydreaming Boy, conditioned by Parx trainer Louis Linder and to be ridden by Dexter Haddock, was third in the Smarty Jones; West Coast Cowboy, who was second in the West Virginia Derby (G3) and is from the barn of Saffie Joseph Jr. and keeps rider Tyler Conner; Crupi, also from Pletcher, won an Aug. 18 allowance on a muddy track at Saratoga; and maiden Modern Era from the barn of Parx regular Uriah St. Lewis, who will be making his stakes debut after eight maiden starts.
The Pennsylvania Derby goes as the 13th of 14 races Saturday at 6:10 p.m. EDT. The first post is at 11:35 a.m.
