Alyssa Spakowski/EQUI-PHOTO

The Clark Hanna trained and Frankie Pennington ridden A. U. Miner closed with a rush from dead last to narrowly take the $250,000 Greenwood Cup over the favored Brazilian-bred Alcomo at Philadelphia Park on Saturday. He returned $30.60 to win as my top selection. The Greenwood Cup is contested at 12 furlongs and is a “Win And You’re In” event for the $500,000 Breeders Cup Marathon.

A. U. Miner didn’t get much respect at the windows and was a much larger price than he should have been. I loved the fact that he was dropping out of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap. That was arguably the strongest race of the year for older horses thus far in 2010. The son of Mineshaft didn’t disgrace himself, but he also proved he wasn’t ready for that caliber of competition yet.

The Greenwood Cup was the perfect class drop for him. He should continue to do well in the Marathon races thanks to his great stamina which can probably be attributed to his sire, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Mineshaft. A. U. Miner has Buckfinder on his dam’s side. He is most well known for being a half brother to the famous Ruffian.

I love the way A. U. Miner performed in this race. He had poor fractions to chase and with a four furlongs left in the race he was still dead last. It’s really incredible that he was able to put together a tremendous Zenyatta-like rally to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Is the last sentence a bit too cliche? Yes, but A. U. Miner deserves it.