LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs won’t host a longer race this week than the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Stakes on Wednesday. In Parchment Party’s ideal world, the Murphy, a 1 1/2-mile dirt contest, would be even longer.
“He’s good at 1 1/2 miles, but he’s better at 1 3/4 miles,” trainer Bill Mott said.
The 12 furlongs nonetheless should suffice. The morning line lists Parchment Party as the 2-1 favorite, a role he deserves.
Eight others went into the Isaac Murphy, which begins at the end of the backstretch, forcing a scramble for position with a short run into the first of three turns.
Parchment Party already has endured one wide trip this year. Mott sent Parchment Party from his winter base at Payson Park in South Florida to Oaklawn Park, where Parchment Party returned from a layoff approaching five months and won the 1 1/2-mile Temperence Hill by a half-length.
Mott not only had his horse fit enough to stay a demanding dirt distance, but Parchment Party came under a ride a half-mile out and got stuck three wide with no cover around the final turn. Runner-up Jokestar came off a romping stakes win and had been racing steadily since April. Going in blinkers for the first time in eight outings, Parchment Party still bested him.
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Mott thought he had a Derby horse when Parchment Party began his career at Churchill as an autumn 2-year-old with a pair of eye-catching last-to-first victories. Instead, Parchment Party went to the sidelines and didn’t start again until the following October, whereupon he embarked on a seven-race losing streak. His breakout came last June, when the 1 3/4-mile Belmont Gold Cup, carded for turf, rained onto a sloppy main track. Parchment Party won by more than eight lengths and returned in August to land the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone.
“He just needed more distance; that’s what led to his improvement,” Mott said.
Owner Pin Oak Stud accepted the invitation that came with the Gold Cup win to run last fall in the Melbourne Cup over two miles. One major impediment: The Melbourne Cup is a turf race, and Parchment Party is a dirt horse. He finished 20th, but his Temperence Hill suggested the horse can hit an even higher level this year.
So can No Bien Ni Mal, officially a 5-year-old like Parchment Party but younger since he was bred in Brazil on Southern Hemisphere time. No Bien Ni Mal made his first 10 starts in Brazil and Uruguay, winning four and excelling as soon as his previous trainer stretched him out to a distance as far as 1 1/4 miles. No Bien Ni Mal came to trainer Paolo Lobo after finishing fourth, making his 1 1/2-mile debut in a Uruguayan Grade 1 in December 2024.
No Bien Ni Mal is by Hofburg, whom Mott trained to finish third in the 2018 Belmont, and out of Una Beleza, a daughter of the American turf horse Signal Tap, who won over 1 3/16 miles. Lobo knew the horse needed long-distance racing.
“He has the pedigree,” Lobo said. “His dam was very good at a mile and a half.”
No Bien Ni Mal, because of modest purses in Brazil and Uruguay, qualified for a first-level allowance race, and Lobo thought enough of the horse that he sent him to Saratoga to run in one. No Bien Ni Mal won well in July and six weeks later landed the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup over 1 1/2 miles. He won going away despite pulling too hard in the early stages when stuck inside and behind horses going a slow pace.
“He likes to be on the lead or close,” Lobo said.
No Bien Ni Mal starts without a prep because a minor winter setback pushed back Lobo’s timetable, but eight workouts covering a total of 40 furlongs should have him ready to represent.
“We pointed for this race for three months,” Lobo said.
Digital Ops figures to lead the Murphy, with several others sticking close, among them Interceptor, a 4-year-old with upside who has a win and a second from two recent 1 1/4-mile races. Trainer Brad Cox claimed Wynstock for $45,000 in December and immediately dredged a career-best from the horse. Wynstock never has gone beyond 1 1/8 miles and on Wednesday faces talented horses like Parchment Party who want this 1 1/2-mile trip – and beyond.
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