Talk about a class drop. In Magic Michael’s recent start, the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup traveling 1 1/2 miles on Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, the 7-year-old gelding faced Next, the country’s best dirt marathoner. Magic Michael, who captured the Greenwood Cup in 2021, did his best to finish a non-threatening second. There are no Next’s for Magic Michael to contend with Saturday in Parx’s $75,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile for 3-year-olds and up, but the one-mile Ballezzi drew a competitive field of classy campaigners. Magic Michael is trained by Jamie Ness, who also will saddle Celestial Moon. Ness claimed Celestial Moon for $32,000 out of a third-place finish on turf Sept. 4 at Delaware Park. Stakes-placed in Northern California last year, Celestial Moon took a step forward in his first start for his new connections, winning a $40,000 starter/optional claimer at Delaware with a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure on Oct. 5. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Trainer John Servis entered Adero and Irish Cork. Adero won Parx’s Mayor’s Mile as an odd-on favorite before finishing fourth in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile. “I thought he ran well,” Servis said. “I thought he would have run a little better. He broke sharp and it looked like he was going to be up close, and then he left too much work to do.” Irish Cork rallied to win Parx’s Storm Cat, then finished fourth as the favorite in the off-turf Japan Turf Cup racing 1 1/4 miles at Laurel Park. “I think he ran flat,” Servis said. “He didn’t break well, he ran even, and never fired. I’m just throwing that race out. If the pace gets a little hot, it sets up good for him.” Ridin With Biden has back class, having won the Greenwood Cup in 2022, but he was beaten 34 3/4 lengths after setting the pace against Next and was beaten double digits in four of his five races prior to that. Grade 3 winner Whelen Springs, stakes winner Lonesome Boy, stakes-placed Concealed Carry, and Ten Gauge complete the field. National Thoroughbred League Races 6 through 10 on the Saturday program are part of the National Thoroughbred League. Ten teams will compete for 3,000 points, and the team with the most points wins the day. :: Learn more about the National Thoroughbred League ◗ Freedom Road is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the sixth race, a $10,000 starter allowance at seven furlongs. Trained by Richard Sillaman, the gelding has won his last six and represents the Philadelphia Stallions team co-owned by NBA legend Julius Erving. ◗ The Stallions also have morning-line favorite Analog Jones in the seventh race, a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at a mile and 70 yards. Trained by Butch Reid, he’ll add blinkers for his first start around two turns. ◗ The Stallions will send out Pachelbel, the 9-5 morning-line choice in the eighth race, a $10,000 starter allowance for fillies and mares at seven furlongs. Stakes-placed on dirt two back, Pachelbel is trained by Ernesto Padilla-Preciado. ◗ The Maryland Colts have the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the ninth race, a high-level allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs. Twisted Ride finished third in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga during the summer and looks to rebound after finishing fifth of nine in the Parx Sprint. ◗ The California Shamrocks have a fitting representative in the final race as Irish Maxima seeks her third consecutive win as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. John Servis conditions the 3-year-old filly, who just captured the Weather Vane on Sept. 22 at Laurel. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.