Trainer Mark Casse said he didn’t know if Final Accord was a true miler, but he knows the 3-year-old filly isn’t a 5 1/2-furlong sprinter. While he waits for the ideal one-turn race to come along, his filly keeps competing and should be a contender in the $150,000 Penn Oaks on Friday at Penn National. “One turn would be great for her, but those options aren’t available currently,” Casse said. “I think they will be once Belmont opens up, but right now, you have Florida at five-eighths or five and a half. Keeneland’s five and a half. Churchill’s five and a half. So you’re very limited, and she’s an in-betweener.” The Penn Oaks will run just before the Grade 3, $400,000 Penn Mile on a 10-race card Friday night. The two one-mile turf races will be preceded by two $75,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-breds. In the field of seven 3-year-old fillies, Final Accord is the only one with a stakes victory. In her second career start last October, the late-closing runner rallied to win the Grade 3 Matron at Aqueduct, earning an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf later that month, the War of Will filly sustained an ankle injury and required surgery. She returned last month and had tough racing luck in the Grade 3 Mamzelle at Churchill Downs. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. While Casse tries to make the most of the mile, trainer Miguel Clement hopes to learn more about Bandiagara in her North American debut. Though she ran third in a stakes in France last year, Clement said he is still in “the honeymoon phase” with the filly. “She’s been with us all winter long, but we don’t know each other that well because every time we work her [on dirt], she’s a bit uninspiring,” Clement said. “But she’s got quality, she’s a good mover, and I’m convinced when we get her on grass, we’ll see what she has.” Vekoma View made her stakes debut in the $150,000 Sanibel Island at Gulfstream Park last time out, and if not for bad racing luck on the far turn, trainer George Weaver said he might be coming to Penn National with a stakes winner. “She’s doing well,” Weaver said. “All I want is a clean trip. That’s all I need.” Alphabet Soup Fierce and Strong will make his 2026 debut at home in the $75,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap. Just as he did when he won the race last year, trainer Michael Salvaggio Jr. said he hopes to use the 1 1/16-mile turf race as a prep for turf sprints over the summer. “This is going to be our base race, and then I think we’re going to go back to sprinting him,” Salvaggio said. “He can do both, but I think he’s a better sprinter.” After taking the Alphabet Soup with a bold front-running ride last year, Fierce and Strong cut back to 5 1/2 furlongs and won the $150,000 Wolf Hill at Monmouth Park. He went on to finish third in the $100,000 Laurel Turf Dash and second in the $150,000 Turf Sprint Championship at Aqueduct later in the year. Salvaggio said he plans to take a similar path in his gelding’s 6-year-old campaign and will work his way toward the Wolf Hill in July. He may need a different trip in this year’s Alphabet Soup, however, as Bartlett will break from the rail and could be tough to catch. “He’s very sharp,” trainer John Servis said. “As a matter of fact, we had to do a little maintenance on his head. He beat his head up a little bit in the stall, raising hell in there. He’s coming into the race really good.” In the $100,000 Henry S. Clark at Laurel Park last month, the 5-year-old gelding dashed to the front and dug in before eventually settling for third with a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. Lyphard Jeanne Marie will make her third career start on turf as an improving contender in the $75,000 Lyphard Stakes. The Pennsylvania-bred mare switched surfaces for last year’s edition of the race and finished second for trainer Butch Reid. “She’s dirt, turf, synthetic,” Reid said. “Just about about anything, she handles with equal aplomb.” Though the field of 10 Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares features plenty of experienced turf runners, Jeanne Marie’s lack of seasoning on the surface is more a result of circumstance. Based at Parx Racing, her dirt form has been more than enough for Reid, but the 1 1/16-mile Lyphard could again prove to be worth the trip. Candy Reward, a two-time stakes winner at Presque Isle last year for Brandon Kulp, has done most of her damage on synthetic, though she won an allowance at Penn National in her lone turf start last August. Modarosa is one of three statebreds shipping from outside Pennsylvania for the Lyphard. Based at Keeneland with Riley Mott, the mare will make her stakes debut after winning a second-level allowance at Aqueduct last month. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.