Navy Commander survives wild stretch run at Parx

To say the morning line maker blew it with Navy Commander in a wild eighth race at Parx yesterday would be a gross understatement. He had the 3-year-old Poseidon’s Warrior gelding listed at 12-1 in the line in the $40,000 allowance race at six furlongs. However, when the field broke from the gate, the Pennsylvania-bred was a solid 2-1 on the tote board.

Frankie Pennington shot Navy Commander right to the lead, but when three others went with him, he wrapped up on the gelding and dropped him into a comfortable fourth. Navy Commander stalked the leaders until the turn, where he made a five-wide move and began eating up ground. In the final sixteenth, they were three abreast straining for the wire, with Navy Commander in the middle, when the horse outside him lugged in and knocked him to the left, and he was simultaneously bumped by the inside horse bearing out. The pinball effect caused the outside horse to take a bad step and his rider was dumped to the ground.

From there, Navy Commander proved to be much the best; he drew away from the others to score by 1 1/2 lengths. There was a stewards’ inquiry and the positions behind him were eventually rearranged, but Navy Commander was safely home with his fourth victory in his last seven starts. He was clocked in 1:11.92 and collected a check of $23,400 for owner/breeder Swilcan Stables. That raised his earnings to $126,663, second best among his sire’s runners behind Firenze Fire, and Poseidon’s Warrior’s earnings jumped to $600,366 for the year.