His only blemishes in that stretch were finishing 18th in the Kentucky Derby, where he was a victim of an extremely fast start and then faltered as he went very wide coming out of the final turn, and a second-place finish in last month\u2019s Grade 1 Travers Stakes. The Brad Cox-trained colt led for most of the race before Epicenter just took over coming out of the final turn to win by more than five lengths.<\/p>\n
Cox thought of holding Cyberknife out until the Breeders\u2019 Cup in November but decided otherwise after a recent workout.<\/p>\n
\nHe had a really good breeze last weekend,\u201d<\/strong> Cox said. \u201cTime wise, it wasn\u2019t anything crazy fast, but it\u2019s how he\u2019s doing, how he looks, how he\u2019s acting. This is one last swing at a Grade 1 (stakes) around two turns for straight 3-year-olds.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nGiven how he\u2019s performed over the summer, Cyberknife is my pick here. It won\u2019t be an easy race, as Taiba gave him fits in the Haskell, and the field has other accomplished runners. However, outside of the Kentucky Derby, he\u2019s performed well against tough horses.<\/p>\n
He will break from the fifth gate and has Florent Geroux aboard.<\/p>\n
Penn Derby Full of Graded Stakes Winners<\/h2>\n Other top horses in the field include Zandon, Tawny Port, and White Abarrio. Beyond them, Skippylongstocking, We the People, and Simplification also have graded stakes wins on their resumes.<\/p>\n
Zandon, hasn\u2019t won since April\u2019s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. But the Chad Brown-trained colt has finished in the money in every start since. That includes third-place showings in the Kentucky Derby and Travers, with a second-place finish behind Epicenter in the July 30 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.<\/p>\n
At 5-1 on the morning line, Zandon is the third choice on the morning line. He drew the inside post, and Joel Rosario will get the ride.<\/p>\n
Tawny Port, another colt from Cox\u2019s barn, finished third in the Jim Dandy and won the June 25 Grade 3 Ohio Derby before that. He is seeking his third graded stakes win at 6-1 on the morning line, and he\u2019ll break seventh. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride him.<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the outside will be White Abarrio, who starts at 8-1 on the morning line. After a pair of wins early in the year at Gulfstream Park, in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes and the Grade 1 Florida Derby, the Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained colt has hit the board just once \u2013 second place in the Ohio Derby \u2013 in his last three starts. Luis Saez gets the mount on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the draw for the Pennsylvania Derby:<\/p>\n
\n1. Zandon, Joel Rosario, 5-1;<\/li>\n 2. Icy Storm, Jeremy Laprida, 30-1;<\/li>\n 3. B Dawk, Frankie Pennington, 20-1;<\/li>\n 4. Skippylongstocking, Edwin Gonzalez, 10-1;<\/li>\n 5. Cyberknife, Florent Geroux, 3-1;<\/li>\n 6. We the People, Flavien Prat, 12-1;<\/li>\n 7. Tawny Port, Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1;<\/li>\n 8. Taiba, Mike Smith, 5-2;<\/li>\n 9. Simplification, Paco Lopez, 10-1;<\/li>\n 10. Naval Aviator, Abner Adorno, 20-1;<\/li>\n 11. White Abbario, Luis Saez, 8-1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A field of 11 three-year-olds is set to race in Saturday\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing, and the $1 million race features a deep field with several contenders. The morning-line favorite is Taiba at 5-2. That’s the Bob Baffert-trained colt who won the Santa Anita Derby six months ago. If Taiba and jockey Mike Smith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":222790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,16],"tags":[81900,82936,45],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Cyberknife, Taiba Set to Duel Again in Saturday's Pennsylvania Derby<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n