Aqueduct: Redding Colliery likely for Excelsior

Though trainer Kiaran McLaughlin nominated Redding Colliery to a couple of races in Dubai on March 31, he said the Evening Attire Stakes winner will likely make his next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct on March 17.

McLaughlin, speaking Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida, said the Excelsior and the $1 million Charles Town Classic on April 14 constitute “a good program.”

Redding Colliery bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish in an overnight stakes at Penn National with a front-running, two-length victory over odds-on favorite I Want Revenge in the Evening Attire. After making the lead from the rail, Redding Colliery ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.05 and earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

McLaughlin noted that in the Penn National race, Redding Colliery had drawn post 8, “so when he broke he just didn’t have any chance to get there

“He was a little rusty off a year layoff and just had kind of a rough trip. Glad to see him back and running like that. He’s a neat old horse.”

Redding Collier, a 6-year-old son of Mineshaft, has now won 7 of 20 starts.