American Turf (gr. IIT) winner Global View and grade III winner Bobby's Kitten headline the early probables for the second running of the $500,000 Penn Mile at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course May 31.
The one-mile turf test for 3-year-olds is the featured event on a card that includes five unrestricted stakes worth a total of $1 million in purse money. The Penn Mile is the third event in the inaugural "Penn Gaming Racing Challenge."
A grade III winner at 2, Glen Hill Farm's Global View stamped himself as one of country's top young turf horses with an impressive victory in the American Turf on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) undercard.
"He's got a powerful, powerful kick," Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens said after the American Turf. "I think he's going to be a top, top turf horse, I'm talking grade I. He's still learning. He's a big colt. He's still developing right now. He's only going to get better."
While Global View would be Tom Proctor's first ever starter at Penn National, trainer Chad Brown is familiar with the central Pennsylvania oval, having sent out a pair of horses on last year's Penn Mile card including Mountainview Handicap winner Easter Gift.
Brown, who saddled Noble Tune to a fifth-place finish in the 2013 Penn Mile, will likely be represented this year by Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Bobby's Kitten.
After a 6 3/4-length win in the Pilgrim Stakes (gr. IIIT) last year, Bobby's Kitten finished third as the favorite in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IT). After defeating Global View in his 3-year-old debut in a Tampa Bay Downs allowance race, Bobby's Kitten finished 12th in the Toyota Blue Grass (gr. IT) in his most recent effort.
The Ramseys top the owner standings after the first two events in the Penn Gaming Racing Challenge, three points ahead of KM Racing Enterprise, Inc., the owner of Charles Town Classic (gr. II) winner Imperative.
In addition to Bobby's Kitten, Brown also has American Turf runner-up Storming Inti nominated to the Penn Mile. Owned by Santa Rosa Racing Stables, Storming Inti forged a clear lead in the late stages of the American Turf before being caught late by Global View.
Among the 46 horses nominated to the Penn Mile are Kentucky Derby starters Dance With Fate (sixth in the Derby), We Miss Artie (10th), Harry's Holiday (16th), and Vicar's In Trouble (19th).
Also closing May 22 were nominations for the other stakes on the card, including the $200,000 Mountainview Handicap.
Leading the prospective field for the 1 1/8 mile Mountainview is four-time graded stakes winner Last Gunfighter, unraced since winning the Hawthorne Gold Cup (gr. II) in November of last year. Owned by John Gunther, the now 5-year-old took the Excelsior (gr. IIIT), Pimlico Special (gr. III), and Iselin (gr. III) in 2013 and finished fifth—beaten 4 3/4 lengths—in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. IT).
The $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup at five furlongs over Penn National's turf course drew 39 nominees including Ben's Cat, who would be making his fourth consecutive start in the race. Ben's Cat won the race in 2011 before third- and fourth-place finishes the last two years. He could go over the $2 million earnings mark with a victory this year.
The first running of the $100,000 Penn Oaks and $50,000 Penn Dash complete the lineup of open stakes on Penn Mile day.
Last year's inaugural Penn Mile card shattered numerous pari-mutuel records at Penn National, including the largest all-sources handle for a single card, the largest on-track handle for a live card, and the single race handle. Post time for the first race on Penn Mile day is set for 6 p.m. (ET), with HRTV providing in-studio coverage of the event.
