Since the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1), Sovereignty and Journalism have kept a stranglehold on the 3-year-old male division, sweeping every grade 1 or grade 2 dirt contest around two turns restricted to sophomores.
Now, in their absence Sept. 20, several well-regarded runners will have a chance to emerge from their shadows with a win in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at Parx Racing.
Although still missing a graded win on his past performances, C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza has earned respect as one of the best in the division thanks to his performances against the two classic winners.
The son of McKinzie out of star broodmare Puca has beaten 24 individual horses in his four starts since breaking his maiden, with only Sovereignty and Journalism finishing ahead of him. Now that those two are gone, his high expectations are depicted in the form of his 2-1 morning-line favoritism. He was the earliest arrival to Bensalem, Pa., of those shipping in for the race, arriving Sept. 14 to get familiar with the track.
"I don't think Baeza needs a special racetrack," trainer John Shirreffs said. "He's run on fast tracks, he's run on wet tracks. Any track he'll handle. He's got a nice position—he's in post 8—so he's got the outside and has most the action inside of him. (Jockey) Hector (Berrios) can pick and choose."
Meanwhile, Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stables' Gosger does have a graded win on the resume—courtesy of Keeneland's Lexington Stakes (G3)—and was only a combined length away from entering Saturday as a dual grade 1 winner and classic winner. Instead, the late-stretch heroics of Journalism in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1) stole the spotlight from the gritty performances the son of Nyquist produced.
"There are some nice horses in there, but I wouldn't swap him for anybody," trainer Brendan Walsh told Parx publicity. "We looked at the Travers, but realistically, his best chance of winning a grade 1 this year was going to be against his own age group in this race."
Gosger again enters a graded competition a little under the radar as, despite outdueling Goal Oriented in the Haskell stretch for second and finishing well ahead of him in the Preakness, he is listed at 4-1 while Goal Oriented is the 5-2 second choice.
Those races represent both of Goal Oriented's graded work to date. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who told Parx publicity the Not This Time colt is only getting better with age, and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for the first time, he figures to be part of an expected lively early pace for the large ownership group, who call themselves "The Avengers," headed by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables.
Other competitors for that pace include two graded stakes winners recently dealt defeat by Sovereignty: Winchell Thoroughbreds' Risen Star Stakes (G2) winner Magnitude for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and R and H Stable's Ohio Derby (G3) winner Mo Plex for Jeremiah Englehart.
Flying Dutchmen's Big Truzz, a grade 1-placed sprinter, exits a dominant seven-length triumph in the one-mile Ellis Park Derby last month when prompting the pace for trainer Brian Lynch. Walsh also saddles David of Athens for Wathnan Racing US, who exits a gate-to-wire allowance victory by 7 1/4 lengths at Ellis Park. Tyler Gaffalione rode both horses at Ellis Park, but will be aboard David of Athens Saturday while Javier Castellano rides Big Truzz.
The 10-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile race is completed by stakes-placed So Sandy and Mid-Atlantic-based longshots Happily Delusional and Altobelli.
Parx Racing, Saturday, September 20, 2025, Race 14Entries: Pennsylvania Derby (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1So Sandy (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 122 Cherie DeVaux 15/1 2 2Altobelli (KY) Angel Castillo 120 James E. Nicholson, Jr. 50/1 3 3Magnitude (KY) Ben Curtis 124 Steven M. Asmussen 6/1 4 4David of Athens (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Brendan P. Walsh 12/1 5 5Happily Delusional (KY) Paco Lopez 120 Louis C. Linder, Jr. 30/1 6 6Goal Oriented (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Bob Baffert 5/2 7 7Big Truzz (KY) Javier Castellano 122 Brian A. Lynch 10/1 8 8Baeza (KY) Hector Isaac Berrios 120 John A. Shirreffs 2/1 9 9Gosger (KY) Luis Saez 124 Brendan P. Walsh 4/1 10 10Mo Plex (NY) Joseph D. Ramos 124 Jeremiah C. Englehart 12/1
