3 Best Bets to Win the 2025 Cotillion Stakes

Key takeaways:

• La Cara is the speed of the speed, second off the layoff, and has already proven she can carry her pace at this trip.
• Clicquot keeps improving, has tactical speed to sit the right trip, and reunites with Irad Ortiz for her Grade 1 debut.
• Good Cheer comes second off the layoff for Brad Cox, has never missed the board on fast dirt at this distance, and should sit a perfect tactical trip.

The top 3-year-old fillies in the country get one more chance to face their own age group for a huge purse and top-level prestige in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes on Saturday, September 20, at Parx Racing. The 1 1/16-mile race drew a competitive field of eight horses, including a trio with proven Grade 1 class: Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer, Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) winner Scottish Lass, and Acorn (G1) winner La Cara.

The history of the Cotillion Stakes actually traces back even longer than its males’ counterpart: the Pennsylvania Derby. The first edition, run in 1969, got the race off in splendid fashion when eventual horse racing Hall of Fame inductee Shuvee won it. The race also got Grade 1 designation five years before the males’ race on the same day; it has been a top-level event since 2012. The winners’ list during its Grade 1 era befits that status: Close Hatches, Untapable, Songbird, Midnight Bisou, Clairiere, and Thorpedo Anna all count the Cotillion among their wins.

The morning-line favorite in the Cotillion Stakes odds is Scottish Lassie, who rounded back to form in a big way in her last start with a 15-length score in the Coaching Club American Oaks. However, the task won’t be so easy this time with Good Cheer, La Cara, and up-and-coming contenders like Indy Bay and Clicquot lining up alongside. This all adds up to an excellent betting opportunity.

The Cotillion Stakes is the 13th of 15 races on Saturday’s flagship card at Parx Racing. It is one of two Grade 1, million-dollar races alongside the Pennsylvania Derby, the day’s 14th. There are five other stakes races on the card, including a pair of graded races in other divisions, the Gallant Bob (G2) for sophomore sprinters and the Greenwood Cup (G3) for older horses going 1 ½ miles on the dirt. The first race starts at 11:10 a.m. EDT, with post time for the Cotillion scheduled for 5:15 p.m. EDT.

These are the three best bets for the Cotillion Stakes:

1. La Cara (2025 Cotillion Stakes morning-line odds: 7-2)

Mark Casse trainee and multiple Grade 1 winner La Cara has piled up a good race-bad race pattern throughout her career, and if she keeps that up, she should be sitting on one of her better ones. She also had a bit of a snarl in her schedule between the Acorn and the Alabama—a barn quarantine meant she missed the Coaching Club American Oaks and had an unplanned layoff before the Alabama.

Now, she has that under her belt and comes second off the layoff. She shapes as the speed of the speed—and, with speed playing so well at Parx Racing, the fact that she should be able to run the rest of the field off their feet early could make it mighty hard to reel her in down the lane. And if something goes weird from a pace perspective? She proved in the Pocahontas (G3) last out that she isn’t one-way speed, as she was able to rally from near the back of the pack and run a winning race. Though the forward trip is more likely, having another way to win is a good mark of a classy horse.

The 1 ⅛-mile trip is right down her alley, too. Her pedigree is replete with stamina on both sides, and she won the Acorn with authority at 1 ⅛ miles two back. Three back in the Kentucky Oaks, her only other start at 1 ⅛ miles, she did fade after disputing the pace—but she was bumped early and had to set a much faster pace than she’ll be forced to this time around. These are better conditions for her, and a result like the Acorn is more likely.

2. Clicquot (2025 Cotillion Stakes morning-line odds: 8-1)

An up-and-comer, Clicquot tries the Grade 1 level for the first time in the Cotillion. She needs to take another step forward to challenge the more proven horses, but only a reasonable one, and she is going the right way. Though she weakened after a pace battle in her debut, she bounced back in her second start, a maiden at Keeneland, disputing the pace before drawing off to a six-length victory. She stretched out to two turns to win an allowance in May at 1 1/16 miles, the same distance as the Cotillion, and came back to win at that distance again in her graded-stakes debut in the Indiana Oaks (G3) on July 5.

In both her route outings, Clicquot showed good tactical speed, stalking in the early stages. She made an early move in the allowance win, battled through sharp fractions, and held on. In the Indiana Oaks, she moved later into the sharp pace, drawing off to win by four lengths after that well-timed move. This suggests she can get a good tactical trip that can play well at Parx, within range, without getting burned out in a battle.

Though Edgar Morales does not return after the Indiana Oaks win, Irad Ortiz was aboard for Clicquot’s maiden win and allowance win, and gets back in the saddle for this. He can use his big-race experience to launch a real threat to the bigger names in the race.

3. Good Cheer (2025 Cotillion Stakes morning-line odds: 5-2)

The Kentucky Oaks winner has won seven of her nine starts. Those seven came in a row, from a debut win in the summer of last year through to the Kentucky Oaks. That streak got snapped over the Saratoga slop in the Acorn in June, where she chased a few lengths off the pace early and came up empty, finishing 9 ¼ lengths behind La Cara. The Brad Cox trainee got a well-earned break after that.

Good Cheer returned August 16 in the Alabama Stakes. Though she didn’t win her return, it was not only a sharper effort than her last one, but her fastest one yet. The only horse who beat her was Nitrogen, a turf and dirt dynamo who may well be in the best form of anyone in the sophomore fillies’ class. It’s an excellent form line, and trainer Brad Cox does so well with runners second off the layoff that there is every chance for her to take another step forward. She reliably shows tactical speed, jockey Luis Saez knows her well and knows how to perform under the biggest spotlights, and he knows what it takes to win over the sometimes-quirky Parx track. All in all, though the price won’t be quite as good as some others in the field, there’s a lot to like, and she would be no surprise to reiterate her claims to the top of the division.

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