What we learned: Early speed helps Grade 1 winners at Parx

Because early speed helps horses avoid the kickback from wet dirt, the style usually works to an even greater degree in mud or slop. Both Ceiling Crusher and Saudi Crown took advantage of this when they captured the Cotillion Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby, the Grade 1 races Saturday at Parx.

They won their races by the half-mile point. At that stage Ceiling Crusher dealt only with mild pressure in the Cotillion, and the expected early threat for Saudi Crown never came.

Here are the two races broken down in separate categories.

Cotillion (G1)

Ceiling Crusher broke well from post 2 and needed only mild urging from Edwin Maldonado to move forward. She led the field around the first turn while sticking to the two path and only began to receive pressure from the long shot Majestic Creed when the field began to straighten out.

Sometimes good speed horses on a high level do not feel it when an outclassed runner tries to apply the pressure. In this case Ceiling Crusher likely felt no real stress when taking pace pressure from 61-1 Majestic Creed, who ran only third in the local Cathryn Sophia Stakes last month.

After an opening quarter in 23.31 and half-mile in 47.64 seconds, Majestic Creed faded from the picture, and Ceiling Crusher led the field into the far turn. At this point Hoosier Philly tried to make a move, but after reaching Ceiling Crusher’s tail, she just could not get any closer and began to stall.

But as expected for any filly leading into the stretch, Ceiling Crusher needed to hold on against the oncoming Pretty Mischievous, the 3-year-old-filly division leader who carried an impressive three-race win streak into the Cotillion, including the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn Stakes and Test Stakes. She was aiming for her fourth straight Grade 1 win.

To Ceiling Crusher’s credit, she held Pretty Mischievous off by a half-length to pick up her first Grade 1 victory after winning the Torrey Pines Stakes (G3) at Del Mar. Occult also closed well from the outside to pick up third while losing by only 1 3/4 lengths. The three of them made up a chalky trifecta.

Ceiling Crusher completed the 1 1/16 miles in the slop at 1:45.69, which resulted in a decent 93 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.

Although Ceiling Crusher ran well, the trip did work out nicely for this speedy California invader, and she will face more imposing speed threats if the connections want to take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November.

Pennsylvania Derby (G1)

Similar to Ceiling Crusher, Saudi Crown broke well from post 3 and went to the front in a straight line with mild urging from Florent Géroux. By contrast the Bob Baffert-trained speed horse Reincarnate broke indifferently from the outside post and did not respond well enough to the initial urging from Juan Hernández to hustle out of that wide position.

From there Saudi Crown led the field into the first turn while traveling in the two path with Scotland and West Coast Cowboy following to his right side. Reincarnate went even wider and made no attempt move forward to press the leader when the field began to straighten out on the far side.

Without any pace threat looming beside him, Saudi Crown won the race. He was running on an uncontested lead in the slop at a pace he could handle. Most good speed horses who receive this kind of trip never stop running. They either become brave or save up plenty of energy.

Saudi Crown ran loose up front without a threat until the approach to the far turn. Finally, Reincarnate tried to muster up a rally after the half-mile in 47.27 seconds and did inch closer to Saudi Crown in the second position. But the move made no impression on Saudi Crown, and Reincarnate gave up.

From the outside Il Miracolo launched his bid from the pack as did Magic Tap on the inside. But neither was able to reach Saudi Crown and match him, and their runs began to stall soon.

Saudi Crown led the field into the stretch and began to open up on them. He did face one last challenge, though, from Dreamlike, who gathered his momentum and put at least a mild, last-minute scare in Saudi Crown bettors. However, Saudi Crown held on late for the half-length win over Dreamlike.

In the end Saudi Crown completed the nine furlongs at 1:50.62, which resulted in a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Another positive note was Dreamlike finished six lengths ahead of the third-place Il Miracolo, and that only backs up the high figure as they went too fast for the rest of them to keep up.

Saudi Crown belongs in either the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile or Classic. If trainer Brad Cox and FMQ Stables opt for the Classic, Saudi Crown’s running style might clash with the speedy Arabian Knight, who is in top form after winning the Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar against older horses.

Nevertheless, this colt belongs with those types of horses and might just need to adjust his style slightly by falling into a pressing or stalking position.