For the stat players, re Frosted, Kiaran 0-8 at Parx in graded stakes. Take a look at his prior 8 runners courtesy of DRF:



CARNIVAL COURT (2013 Cotillion - 9th at 9/1) - Had been fading third of 5 in Personal Ensign in previous start, yet that was a career-best race. Ran below best form, but broke through the gate pre-start, and that nearly always leads to disappointment.

ALPHA (2012 Pa Derby - 6th at 4/5) - This is the performance that folks probably feel lends backbone to the raw stats, but lets look at the circumstances. Alpha would go on to finish 12th in the BC Classic in 2012, and subsequent performances validated what seemed to be the case even at the time of the Penn Derby - the 2012 Travers was very poor. And while he beat only one at Parx, Alpha did lose only by about four lengths, and he was stuck on what seemed like a very, very dead rail that day.

IRSAAL (2014 Greenwood Cup - 6th at 9/1) - Coming off a distant second in the 14-furlong Birdstone at Saratoga, but he was fading that day and simply didn't stay the 12 furlongs of this dirt marathon. Returned to form later in year when cut back to middle distances.

ASIYA (2013 Cotillion - 6th at 8/1) - Amazingly, she - like her stablemate Carnival Court - also broke through the gate before the start of the Cotillion. Mainly a sprinter, the race was too far for her anyway, and her modest career record suggests she lacked the requisite quality.

TRANSPARENT (2013 Pa Derby - 4th at 5/2) - Bet this low because he was coupled with Albertrani-trained Romansh. Had been ninth last out in the Travers and would have been a much higher price on his own, and on his own would have outrun his odds with a solid 4th-place finish after being stuck on the rail.

RATTLESNAKE BRIDGE (2011 Pa Derby - 3rd at 2/1) - Coming off a second in Stay Thirsty's Travers, but you know who was third in that Travers? J W Blue. Not a great Travers. He ran his race in the Penn Derby, beaten by To Honor and Serve and by Ruler on Ice, both of whom were better horses.

QUESTING (2012 Cotillion - 2nd at 2/5) - Okay, beaten odds-on favorite in a short field. Surely that signifies a horse that should have won and didn't, right? Not really. She was inside the whole trip, and stalking from the outside was a filly named My Miss Aurelia, who would go on to finish second in Royal Delta's tour de force BC Distaff.

IT'S TRICKY (2011 Cotillion - 2nd at 6/5) - Probably ran a bit below form, but on the other hand, she was chasing loose-on-lead Plum Pretty, who ran out of her mind that day, earning a career-best 108 Beyer in a romping victory. And if It's Tricky did perform below her best, it wasn't because of a quick turnaround, as the Cotillion was run that year in October, giving the filly six weeks since her previous start at Saratoga.