Jamie Ness thinks Spikezone is ready for his first foray into stakes competition. “If he’s won 10 this year, then it’s time,” quipped Ness. Spikezone hasn’t been headed in his last five starts and looms a strong contender in Wednesday’s $75,000 Let’s Give Thanks for 3-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs at Parx Racing. Spikezone began his career for Ness, who lost him for $50,000 via the claim box before immediately taking him back for $40,000 out of a fifth-place finish in his final start of 2022. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “We got him since he was a baby,” Ness said. “He had some injuries. He’s a super-fast horse and runs the turns well.” Spikezone raced three times without success in 2023, but has been a new horse this year, winning 10 of 13. “He was eligible for a lot of starters and stuff like that, so we’ve been able to spot him really good,” Ness said. Spikezone scored those last five wins by a combined 24 3/4 lengths. He beat stakes winners Prince of Jericho and Seven’s Eleven in his most recent outing, a high-level Laurel allowance on Nov. 1. Witty, who will break one stall outside of Spikezone in post 7, overcame adversity to become a multiple stakes winner on dirt and turf. “As a 3-year-old, he almost lost his eye on the dirt at Parx on Pennsylvania Derby Day,” trainer Elizabeth Merryman said earlier in the year. “We went through eight weeks at a treatment facility to save his eye.” While Spikezone is a speed horse, Witty rallies from off the pace. “He always lays back, and the dirt races give him a little bit of extra ground and sometimes tire out the speed,” Merryman told Laurel track publicity last week. “That can help him if there’s enough speed in the race.” Veeson has won his last two at Parx in allowance races. He finished third in the Parx Sprint on Sept. 21. Cabo, One More Scoop, Depoli, Windsor Gold, and Debit Card complete the field. Angkor will scratch for an upcoming allowance at Churchill, per trainer Phil Bauer. Pennsylvania Nursery In the winner’s circle after The Boy’s Warrior dominated the Whistle Pig, trainer Tim Girten already had a detailed schedule for the unbeaten son of Warrior’s Reward. “He’s going to run in [the Mark McDermott at Presque Isle on Oct. 21], then point for” the Pennsylvania Nursery. It’s nice when a plan comes together. The Boy’s Warrior wired them at odds-on in the McDermott and should start favored in the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery for 2-year-old statebreds at seven furlongs. A debut winner at Presque Isle Downs on Aug. 28, The Boy’s Warrior toyed with five others in the Whistle Pig, drawing off by nine lengths under Frankie Pennington. “He’s a very nice animal,” Girten said after the Whistle Pig. “He’s going to run on anything, and he’s going to go any distance. Frankie said he was just playing down the lane. He trains like a 4-year-old, acts like a 4-year-old.” Baby Dukes adds blinkers after finishing a well-beaten third against open company in Delaware’s Rocky Run Ballad of Warrior is the only other prior winner. He’ll be joined by maidens Reelin N Dealin, Crab Daddy, and Byrde of War. Cornucopia Bauer sends out Speedy Traveler in the $75,000 Cornucopia for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. The 4-year-old Speedy Traveler wired a third-level allowance field over a sloppy Churchill surface on Sept. 13. “We had her entered at Keeneland in a nice allowance race, and she got sick the day before and spiked a high temperature,” Bauer said. “We lost a couple of weeks with her. She’s back in good form.” Speedy Traveler breezed five furlongs in 59 seconds on Nov. 16 at Churchill in company with Two Sharp, with both serving as targets for Grade 3-winning juvenile Jonathan’s Way. A week after that workout, Two Sharp won the Grade 3 Chilukki at Churchill with a 93 Beyer Speed Figure. Confirmed Star has won three of her last four and turns back in distance for trainer Butch Reid. Early Edition, Snow Lake, Patty Brown Eyes, Talk to the Judge, and Beach Daze also are entered. Bourbon Bon Bay cross-entered in Friday’s rescheduled Willa On the Move at Laurel. Trainer Ned Allard said Monday morning that he is leaning toward that race. Disco Ebo scratched to run in Monday’s Mahoning Distaff. Turkey Trot Warrior Johny’s last three dirt races came in graded stakes. Bauer hopes class relief gets the 5-year-old gelding back into the winner’s circle in the $75,000 Turkey Trot for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and 70 yards. “A horse like him, at some point you get to feeling sorry for them,” Bauer said. “They’re running their races, they’re trying hard, but trying to find them a winning spot is hard to do. This race came out tougher than I thought it would based on numbers, but it’s a bit of class relief and hopefully a winning spot.” Locally based Concealed Carry seeks his second straight stakes win after wiring the field in the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile on Oct. 19. Ninetyprcentmaddie, Eloquist, Irish Cork, Movisitor, and Seven’s Eleven are all prior stakes winners, and Supreme Being completes the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.