The past week at Parx was filled with noteworthy performances and first-time starter Kentucky Outlaw stamped himself as one to watch with an impressive debut victory.

Trained and owned by Felissa Dunn, the sophomore son of Outwork broke a step slowly under Silvestre Gonzalez but quickly moved up to contention. He rated through opening fractions 22.16 and 46.20 before taking command around the far turn and drawing off handily to win by 7 3/4 lengths.

“This is the nicest horse I’ve ever trained,” said Dunn. “I have to thank jockey Silvestre Gonzalez. This horse had some challenges with breaking slowly from the starting gate and Silvestre helped him so much. The first day I ever got on him myself, I said “wow, he’s special.”

The four-day racing week was also punctuated with impressive performances from older horses as well.

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania-bred Harp’s Hot Corner earned his sixth consecutive victory after a hard-fought stretch duel with multiple stakes winner Maximus Meridius. Trained by Jamie Ness and ridden by leading jockey Mychel Sanchez, the four-year-old son of Weigelia prevailed by a neck. The pair was 13 ½ lengths clear of the rest of the field.

In Thursday’s featured allowance optional claiming race, the reigning 2024 Claiming Horse of the Year Spikezone set the early pace before ultimately getting caught at the wire by Pennsylvania-bred Windsor Gold.

Trained by Michael Moore and ridden by Andrew Wolfsont, the six-year-old son of Golden Lad earned his seventh career victory.

“Windsor ran great and it was a really nice ride by Andrew,” said Moore. “He is a very nice horse and it is a real thrill to beat a champion like Spikezone.”