Atras settles on Ballezzi Appreciation Mile for streaking Film Star
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Trainer Rob Atras is still looking for the perfect spot to enter Film Star, but without such a race on the horizon, the $75,000 M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile at Parx Racing on Tuesday will have to do.
“Ideally, you’d run back in New York, but there just wasn’t quite that race,” Atras said. “It really wasn’t there, so this was kind of a secondary thing, and it filled. It looks like a good spot. He’s trained well lately and he’s coming to the race good.”
In August, Atras claimed the 6-year-old from Linda Rice for $100,000 at Saratoga, where he pulled away to win by 1 1/2 lengths for his second straight victory of the summer. He earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for both wins.
Atras searched for an ambitious next start in September and entered Film Star in the Grade 2 Woodward at Aqueduct and $200,000 Battery Park at Delaware. He ultimately scratched him from both races, claiming he wanted to avoid a tough three-horse field in the Woodward.
Three weeks after holding him out of action, the well remains dry for Film Star in New York, and Atras said that he intends to take the trip to Parx on Tuesday in order to avoid racing him for a claiming tag. In September 2024, Film Star shipped to Parx for Rice and finished fifth in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile. He will take on seven rivals at the same distance Tuesday.
“Sometimes, shippers at Parx, it can be a tricky surface for some who haven’t handled it before, so I’m glad that he’s run on it already once,” Atras said. “It’s not 100 percent what we were looking for, but it looks like a decent option.”
Atras might have the class edge over a group of hard-knocking Mid-Atlantic rivals, but trainer John Servis has strength in numbers with geldings Adero and Irish Cork. Adero is listed at 7-2, making him a tepid morning-line favorite over Film Star, the 4-1 second choice.
After two straight losses to stakes winner Offaly Cool at Parx, Adero shipped to Delaware in August and won a $48,000 allowance by a head over Wild Vine and next-out winner St. Jude. In a restricted starter allowance in September, he finished second by three-quarters of a length behind Point Dume, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Timothy Kreiser. The two runners will be rematched on Tuesday at Parx.
Servis said that Adero is one or two starts away from a well-deserved layoff, but Irish Cork is just getting started again. The 8-year-old gelding will make his first start since April, when he finished second in a $55,000 allowance at Parx. He was no match for loose front-runner Counterspy that day, but he finished ahead Adero and Offaly Cool in an improved effort.
“Offaly Cool is a very nice horse, so I thought it was a great effort by Irish Cork,” Servis said. “Unfortunately, it was a mishap after the race that cost him the time.“
The trainer said that he wanted to find a softer spot for Irish Cork in Maryland off the layoff, but, like Atras, he was forced to consider this stakes at Parx after several races didn’t fill.
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