Cotillion

November Snow, fresh off a pair of Grade I victories at Saratoga, should prove a solid favorite in today's $125,000 Cotillion Handicap at Philadelphia Park. Trained by Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, who has also enjoyed an outstanding year with Sky Beauty and Missy's Mirage, November Snow won the Test Stakes at seven furlongs and confirmed her superior form with a thrilling nose victory over Saratoga Dew in the prestigious Alabama at 1 1/4 miles. Chris Antley, aboard in both of those outings, will ride in the 1-1/16 mile Cotillion, which was scrapped last season in a money-saving move but still retains a Grade II ranking.

Pat Day, the sixth-leading jockey in history with more than 6,700 victories, will be at Philadelphia Park today to pilot likely favorite Everhope in the $150,000 Cotillion Handicap. The daughter of the very successful sire Danzig, out of multiple stakes-producing mare Battle Creek Girl, Everhope will face only four opponents in the Grade II test for 3-year-old fillies. Everhope is owned by the partnership of William Farrish, G. Watts Humphrey and Pam Firman. Ginny Lynn, who defeated Everhope by a half-length in the Dogwood Handicap in their last start at Churchill Downs, will be a solid second choice under veteran Larry Melancon.

Nine 3-year-old fillies, including three Grade I stakes winners, were entered yesterday for the $134,400 Cotillion Handicap tomorrow at Philadelphia Park. Sacahuista, winner of last year's Grade I Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita Park and the Cotillion's 119-pound highweight, drew into the fourth starting position. She will be ridden by Craig Perret. The filly, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, is still seeking her first win of 1987. Her best outing was a second in the Hollywood Oaks in July, and she was a well beaten fifth in her most recent start, in Saratoga's Test Stakes last month.

Jacody was so impressive during the summer at Monmouth Park that she was made a solid 5-2 second choice to champion Sky Beauty in the prestigious Alabama at Saratoga. But the daughter of Lost Code was a big disappointment that August afternoon. Afterward trainer Bill Donovan discovered that his prize 3-year-old filly was suffering from a virus that he felt was the cause for her poor showing at the Spa. Today at Philadelphia Park, Jacody will attempt to rebound from that setback when she heads an excellent field of nine in the $150,000 Cotillion Handicap, the Bensalem track's premier race for fillies.

WHEN PARX Racing officials moved the Pennsylvania Derby from Labor Day to late September, they wanted their signature race to attract horses from the Travers Stakes, serve as a final 3-year-old prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic and attract some stars of the crop. So far, they have attained two of the three goals. Still waiting on the stars. Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky almost came last year. Uncle Mo, the 2010 2-year-old champion, nearly came last week. Lookin at Lucky ended up running a week later in Indiana, near the hometown of owner Mike Pegram.

Sacahuista led through every stride of Philadelphia Park's $108,800 Cotillion Handicap yesterday, but she was disqualified from her victory for bumping Silent Turn near the top of the homestretch. Silent Turn, who had finished second by a neck to Sacahuista in the 1 1/16- mile, Grade III race, was elevated to the top spot by the track's stewards. Owned by Dennis Diaz' Hunter Farm, Silent Turn had been having a run of bad luck. But her luck changed for the better on a gray, drizzly afternoon in Bucks County.

Proud Run, who has won all three of her appearances at Philadelphia Park by a total of 26 lengths, is the likely favorite for this afternoon's $150,000 Cotillion Handicap for 3-year-old fillies. Owned and bred by Katharine Merryman in Maryland, Proud Run began her career at the Bensalem track last Dec. 22 with a 10-length romp over maiden claimers and followed with an 11 1/2-length score in a $20,000 claiming test. That was the last time the Richard Hendriks-trained daughter of Proud Truth raced with a price tag on her head.

Jostle has spent many months stabled on the backstretch at Philadelphia Park but, during her climb to the summit of the 3-year-old filly division, has never had the opportunity to compete at the Bensalem track. That will change today, when Fox Hill Farm's $1.1 million earner heads the $200,000 Cotillion Handicap in her final start before the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4. Jostle, trained by Bensalem resident John Servis, will be a huge favorite in the Grade II event at 1 1/8 miles, facing seven seemingly overmatched opponents.

Long shot Double Dee's, a huge success at home against New York-breds but a consistent failure in open company, led nearly every step of the way to capture yesterday's $150,000 Cotillion Handicap at Philadelphia Park. Ginny Lynn, the 8-5 second choice, finished 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner in second, a nose before Princess Eloise. Winter Melody rallied mildly along the rail to finish fourth, with the 7-10 favorite, Everhope, far back in last under Hall of Famer Pat Day in the five-horse field of 3-year-old fillies.

Life At The Top, winner of Belmont Park's Mother Goose Stakes in June, will carry highweight of 121 pounds in tomorrow's $100,000 Cotillion Stakes at Philadelphia Park. The Seattle Slew filly, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, drew the ninth starting gate in a field of 14 3-year-old fillies for the 1 1/16-mile, Grade III Cotillion. Pat Day was named to ride Life At The Top, but he also was named to ride the Lukas-trained Lady's Secret in Belmont Park's Marlboro Cup, which will go off about 70 minutes after the Cotillion.

SATURDAY'S featured races at Parx Racing will be televised by CW Philly, Channel 57. The station will begin its coverage at 5 p.m., some 40 minutes before post time for the $1 million Cotillion. The $1 million Pennsylvania Derby follows the Cotillion. It is the first time in American racing, outside of the Breeders' Cup, that two million-dollar races are on the same card. The races are numbered 10 and 11 on the Parx schedule. Daily News sports writer Dick Jerardi will join ESPN's Chris Lincoln, horse racing expert Caton Bredar and local sportscaster Bruce Casella for the CW's coverage.

IF YOU weren't sure that the perception of Parx Racing has changed nationally, the American Graded Stakes Committee proved it yesterday. After a 2-day meeting in Lexington, Ky., it awarded the Cotillion Stakes Grade I status for 2012. It is the track's first Grade I stakes, one of only 112 around the country and just 10 for 3-year-old fillies. The committee awarded new Grade III status to four stakes. Three of them - the Smarty Jones, Greenwood Cup and Doc Penny - will be run at Parx.

Plum Pretty went wire to wire to win the $750,000 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing Saturday. The 3-year-old filly trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Rafael Bejarano looked sensational winning by 71/2 lengths. Plum Pretty was sent off as second choice in the wagering at 3-2 and paid $5.00, 2.60, and 2.40. It's Tricky, the 6-5 race favorite, was second and paid $2.60 and 2.10. Daring Reality, at 72-1, was third and paid $5.00 to show. The final time of 1 minute, 41.19 seconds set a stakes record for the Cotillion.

Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty heads the field for Saturday's $750,000 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing, as trainer Bob Baffert makes a rare appearance in Philadelphia. Plum Pretty will face It's Tricky, who beat her in the Grade I Alabama stakes at Saratoga. Ann's Smart Dancer, owned by former Inquirer handicapper Craig Donnelly, will run in the $100,000 Pennsylvania Breeders Distaff at 11/16 miles.   Belmont Park. A cavalcade of stars featuring 3-year-olds Stay Thirsty (Jockey Club Gold Cup)

WHEN PARX Racing officials moved the Pennsylvania Derby from Labor Day to late September, they wanted their signature race to attract horses from the Travers Stakes, serve as a final 3-year-old prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic and attract some stars of the crop. So far, they have attained two of the three goals. Still waiting on the stars. Preakness winner Lookin at Lucky almost came last year. Uncle Mo, the 2010 2-year-old champion, nearly came last week. Lookin at Lucky ended up running a week later in Indiana, near the hometown of owner Mike Pegram.

The three year-old filly division is loaded this year and three of the division's best have decided to come to Parx Racing Saturday and compete in the G2 $750,000 Cotillion Stakes. The 42nd running of the event is scheduled for the main track at one mile and one-sixteenth and while the race drew just six runners, three have Grade 1 wins on their resumes. Much like the three year-old male division, the top fillies have been trading wins all season long. Trainer Bob Baffert will make a rare Philadelphia appearance when he saddles his G1 Kentucky Oaks winning filly, Plum Pretty.

Circumstances worked against Parx Racing when the racing office was assembling the field for the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. What the race lacked in stars, it made up for with a frantic finish. Well, they got "the" star for this Saturday's $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes. The nation's best 3-year-old filly, Blind Luck, is coming from the West Coast tomorrow. Her very serious rival, Havre de Grace, was also entered yesterday. Blind Luck has won the Kentucky Oaks, Alabama Stakes, Delaware Oaks and Fantasy Stakes this year.

Blind Luck heads the field for the Grace 2, $750,000 Cotillion Stakes, a one mile and a one-sixteenth main track race for 3 year-old fillies at Parx Racing, formerly known as Philadelphia Park. Blind Luck, a daughter on Pollard's Vision, who raced his entire career blind in one eye, has been nothing sort of sensational. She won her first race for $40,000 at Calder, romping home by 13 lengths. Last October, she won the Grade 1 Oak Leaf at Santa Anita. She was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies but won the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet at Hollywood Park.

Call it a quest for perfection. In pristine ballroom gowns with matching pearl necklaces and earrings, white gloves and hair flawlessly coiffed, hundreds of teens across the nation are making their social debut. The cotillion season is in full swing. Far more than just a lesson in the waltz, the rite of passage challenges debutantes and their male counterparts to learn social graces of a bygone era amid a freestyle hip-hop culture. "This is a night that I will remember forever," said Antonia Provost, 17, a junior at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, who was one of the debutantes presented at the Pink and Green Fantasy 10th Debutante Ball, held recently at the Merion in Cinnaminson.

Kenya McQueen is all buttoned-down, workaholic seriousness. She lives in a super-clean, beige-on-beige bungalow and has her laptop out on weekends. And she isn't into dogs. In fact, Kenya has a whole list of things she's not into, including white men. But when a coworker sends Miss No Time for Love on a blind date, Kenya (Sanaa Lathan of Love & Basketball) is shocked to come face to face with studly blond landscape architect Brian Kelly (Aussie Simon Baker of The Ring Two). Something New has the necessary ingredients for a fun romantic comedy: great chemistry between two adorable leads, supportive pals (her three girlfriends complete a very Sex and the City, cosmo-drinking foursome)