Photo:

Jason Moran / Eclipse Sportswire

In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.

Entries

Saturday

Parx Racing, race 8: Is there any way Next loses the Greenwood Cup (G3), a race he won by 25 lengths last year? I suppose anything is possible – this is horse racing, after all – but if Next runs his typical race in defense of his Greenwood Cup title, his rivals are almost certainly running for second place.

Since stretching out over distances from 1 3/8 miles to 1 3/4 miles on dirt, Next has won eight out of nine starts, including his last six in a row. He routinely obliterates his competition by double-digit margins. He’s won multiple editions of the Brooklyn (G2), taking this year’s renewal by 9 1/4 lengths over Suburban (G2) winner Crupi, and last month he won a second straight Birdstone at Saratoga by 22 1/4 lengths.

Next has speed and figures to use it in a largely paceless Greenwood Cup field. Chances are, he’ll set or press a slow tempo before taking over to win by daylight, further cementing his legacy as North America’s finest marathon dirt horse in years.

Parx Racing, race 12: Next isn’t the only odds-on favorite slated to start in a graded stakes at Parx this Saturday. Thorpedo Anna is going to be tough to beat while taking on fellow 3-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion (G1).

Thorpedo Anna has been unstoppable against fillies this year, using her excellent tactical speed to win the Fantasy (G2) by four lengths, the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by 4 3/4 lengths, the Acorn (G1) by 5 1/2 lengths and the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) by 4 1/2 lengths. And she arguably ran even better when facing males in the Travers (G1) last month, rallying to finish second by a head against reigning champion 2-year-old male Fierceness.

That effort yielded a 111 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. None of the other seven fillies in the Cotillion field have posted a Beyer remotely that high, so Thorpedo Anna is hands-down the runner to beat.

Parx Racing, race 13: Looking for a long shot to play in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1)? Unmatched Wisdom offers a lot of appeal, so long as you draw a line through his non-threatening seventh-place finish in the Travers (G1) last month.

I think that’s a reasonable approach. Normally a speed horse who sets or tracks the pace, Unmatched Wisdom got bumped around at the start of the Travers and wound up racing in fifth place early on. He ran into more trouble when one of his leg wraps came loose. The Travers was a fast race, so even while finishing 18 3/4 lengths behind Fierceness and Thorpedo Anna, Unmatched Wisdom earned a decent Beyer Speed Figure and Brisnet Speed rating.

If Unmatched Wisdom avoids trouble in the Pennsylvania Derby, he can bounce back to the form of his first three starts, which yielded a blowout maiden win, a similarly dominant allowance score and a gate-to-wire triumph in a quick edition of the Curlin at Saratoga. Speed figures suggest Unmatched Wisdom is one of the fastest Pennsylvania Derby entrants on his best day, so don’t be surprised if this Chad Brown trainee visits the winner’s circle at nice odds.