Pure Sensation Dashes Home Much the Best in G3 Parx Dash

BENSALEM, PA – Patricia Generazio’s homebred Pure Sensation broke free of pacesetter Bold Thunder off of the far turn and cruised home with ease to defend his title in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash Stakes.

The win was Pure Sensation’s third straight on the track, having taken the 2016 edition of the Dash and 2015’s Grade 3 Turf Monster Handicap. Victory here earned the 6-year-old gelding an automatic, no-fees entry into this September’s Turf Monster.

Breaking alertly from post 10, Pure Sensation immediately applied pressure to the outside of Bold Thunder, who ran splits of :22.72 for 3/16 and :45.62 for 3/8. Exiting the turn, jockey Kendrick Carmouche gave Pure Sensation the green light, and the pair immediately flew away from the rest of the field. The Christophe Clement trainee stopped the timer at :57.24, crossing the line 5 3/4 lengths ahead of a five-way photo finish for the minor awards.

After trailing 4 lengths down the backside, Mongolian Saturday made a strong move exiting the turn and got up late to take second by a neck over Bold Thunder. It was another neck back to Pool Winner in fourth, yet another neck back to Platinum Prince in fifth, and a head back to Richard’s Boy in sixth. Another length back came Vision Perfect, who was a neck in front of Starship Wildcat and a 1/2-length ahead of Always Sunshine. Amelia’s Wild Ride and Winning the Medal rounded out the order of finish. Snowday was scratched.

With the victor’s share of $120,000, the son of Zensational eclipsed the $1 million career earnings mark, reaching $1,073,540. It was his first time back in the winner’s circle since taking the Belmont Turf Invitational last October.

Pure Sensation returned $4.20, $3, and $2.40. Mongolian Saturday brought back $9.20 and $3.40, while Bold Thunder paid $6.60 to show.