Amadora tries to make amends for subpar effort in the Sunday feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer J.K. Sweezey was among the stars on opening day of the meet Wednesday, winning with both his starters. He’ll look to add to his success in Sunday’s featured eighth race, a $47,000 allowance event carded at a mile on the turf, with Amadora among many logical contenders in a full field of 12 fillies and mares.

Amadora seeks to rebound from finishing 12th and last across town at Gulfstream Park West. In her previous start, a race restricted to statebreds, Amadora rallied to a three-length victory over the pacesetting Centsless Drama while earning a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

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Centsless Drama will be among the competition again Sunday in a lineup that also includes three-time winner Bean Counter, New York invader Kellycanrun, the French import All Come True in her U.S. debut, and the Brendan Walsh-trained pair of Choate Bridge and Sea of Blue.

Also on Wednesday, Ournationonparade led throughout to post a three-length decision over the slow-starting Life in Shambles to capture the first feature event of the meet. The win was the second in 10 starts for the 3-year-old Maryland-bred, whose maiden win came against Maryland-bred stakes company last year at Pimlico.

Ournationonparade’s trainer, Kathy Ritvo, said she had pointed her horse for this race since the day the first condition book came out for the new meet several weeks earlier.

“He’d had a tough campaign, so I wanted to freshen him and just gear him up for the winter meet,” Ritvo said. “And once we saw the new book, I laid out a work schedule to prepare him specifically for this race.”

Ritvo said she’d like to stretch out Ournationonparade in his next race. Her only problem now with Ournationonparade is how to keep him separated from stablemate Frosted Grace, who also is eligible for a second-level allowance condition.

◗ Red Crescent bounced back from a fifth-place finish in defense of his title in the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview last month at Gulfstream Park West to spring an upset in Thursday’s Gulfstream headliner. West Will Power, who was 2 for 2 going into the race, finished second after breaking slowly.

Lopez rode Red Crescent to garner his fifth victory after the opening two days of the meet. Red Crescent, a 6-year-old Florida-bred son of Overdriven trained by Lee Vinson, will likely point to the $100,000 Sunshine Millions Classic here Jan. 16.