In his first two seasons as a racehorse, Choctaw Racing Stable & Winning Horse Stable’s Officer Alex had already shown his liking for the surface at Parx Racing, winning twice and running second in three career starts over the track. Coming from off the pace, he again showed his affinity for the local track as he rallied from last in a six horse field to win the $75,000 Lyman Handicap, a seven furlong test for Pennsylvania-bred three year-olds and up. The four year-old Officer colt won for the fifth time in his career and pushed his earnings to just over $227,000.
Breaking from the outside gate, Officer Alex was kept out of the early pace scenario by winning jockey Frankie Pennington and settled nicely on the outside, in the clear, and about three lengths off of the leading trio of horses who battled it out past the half mile pole. Arlo had the lead with four furlongs to go but was getting pressure on the inside from Rustler Hustler and on the outside from Traffic Light. Moving to the three-eighths pole after contested fractions of 22.69 and 45.07, Arlo gave up the lead to longshot Rustler Hustler, but now Pennington was beginning to mount his bid from the back, moving three wide and drawing into contention as they rounded the far turn. He continued to gain despite being forced four wide at the quarter pole and had reached the leaders as they approached the top of the stretch. Off the turn in the middle of the track, Officer Alex took the lead with late running Zipped Code trying to close ground on the inside. In the final furlong, Officer Alex was the stronger horse, edging away to win by a clear cut length and a half, finishing out in an outstanding time of 1:22.67. No better than fifth choice in the wagering, off at 5-1 and trained by Lynn Whiting, Officer Alex returned $13.80 to win.
The seven furlong version for the PA-bred fillies and mares is the $75,000 Foxy J G. The 2014 edition of the Foxy J G went to Michael Jester’s Where’s Rosie B. The five year-old Real Quiet mare took the lead from the inside after the opening furlong and never gave it up. With four and half furlongs to go, she had edged clear to lead it by a length and a half, tracked outside by stablemate Flynnie and Zippity Goomba. Moving to the far turn after setting a pace of 23.32 and 46.06, she increased that lead to two lengths as they approached the quarter pole. He main rival, though, Villette, was now making her presence felt and she came ranging up four wide and loomed a serious threat turning for home. Coming to the eighth pole, Villette had reached the neck of Where’s Rosie B and looked poised to go by, but “Rosie” dug in and simply refused to surrender. She held off that late charge and won her fourth straight race and first stakes victory by a hard fought neck. Trained by Mario Serey, Jr and ridden by Hector Caballero, she went off as the favorite at 2-1 and paid $6.80 to win. The final time over a fast track was 1:23.44.