Allie's Event figures tough in return

Lori Smock has a New Hampshire cell-phone number, a half-dozen mares boarded in Florida, a 25-horse string stabled at Hoosier Park in Indiana, and, for the first time, a set of horses spending the meet at Presque Isle Downs in western Pennsylvania. And Smock, from all appearances, has a major player for Tuesday’s featured seventh race at Presque Isle in comebacking Allie’s Event.

Smock trained Allie’s Event’s mother, Crewsin’ Allie, and – along with about five other racemares of years past – kept her for breeding purposes. Allie’s Event is the second foal from Crewsin’ Allie, and he’s a pretty good one. Racing in the Smock silks, Allie’s Event has won four races and placed in four others during a 10-start career.

“The only time he wasn’t first or second, he had bad trips,” Smock said.

Allie’s Event last started April 3 at Tampa, capping a strong meet there with a second-place finish in the $85,000 Turf Classic for 4-year-olds. A foot problem plagued him for several weeks afterward, but Smock said Allie’s Event has pretty much been geared up for a while now, with Smock just awaiting the right race.

Allie’s Event has two wins each on synthetic and turf surfaces, but Smock isn’t sure her horse is as fond of the Tapeta track at Presque Isle as he was of the Polytrack at Turfway, where Allie’s Event trained for some time last year, and the Polytrack at Keeneland, over which he won a second-level allowance race last fall.

Allie’s Event, with Carlos Montalvo named to ride, drew post 1 in a seven-horse field of high-end allowance horses scheduled to race one mile. Trainer Mike Trombetta has two horses entered in the race, though it would not be a surprise if Despite the Odds, who worked Wednesday at Fair Hill in Maryland, is scratched.

Trombetta’s other entry, Tiz Late, worked a bullet five furlongs last weekend at Presque Isle and looks set to make his first start since he finished fourth last October at Woodbine in the Dunham Cup, a Canadian Grade 3. Tiz Late has enough quality to win, but he is a confirmed front-runner and could become entangled in an early duel with Crimson Comic, another router who prefers the lead. Tiz Late, however, has scored 4 of his 5 career wins at Presque Isle and figures to be bet far below his 5-1 morning-line odds.