Brother vs. brother in Commonwealth Sire Stakes at Parx
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Trainer Hugo Padilla said he thought he would have a relatively easy time when he entered the classy Pennsylvania-bred mare Nature’s Candy in the $60,000 Commonwealth Sire Stakes on Tuesday at Parx Racing. His brother, trainer Ernesto Padilla-Preciado, thought much the same when he entered Lady Annabelle, who will make her stakes debut on a six-race winning streak.
“I thought it was gonna be a little easier than that, but my brother has a horse in there that’s really gone through the roof right now,” Hugo Padilla said. “So I think we have competition, but [Nature’s Candy] is doing great. She's doing really good. She's ready to go. I think it's going to be between those two horses in the race.”
Far from a breeze now, the brothers, both of whom are striking at over 20 percent at Parx this year, will be pitted against one another with the front-running standouts in the field of eight Pennsylvania-bred fillies and mares. Lady Annabelle, the hot hand, has been made the 9-5 morning-line favorite.
Claimed for $7,500 in March, Padilla-Preciado had no way of knowing the 6-year-old mare’s potential when he first dropped his slip.
“I had a horse in the same race and I knew I was going to lose her, so I wanted to replace the horse,” Padilla-Preciado said. “Me and Scott Lake, we were looking at [Lady Annabelle], and Scott Lake dropped on that one too. I liked her size. She was quiet and everything, but she got a huge size, beautiful size. She was a [Pennsylvania-bred, so I said, ‘Why not? Let me take a shot.’ ”
It took a few starts for her to find her best stride, but since winning a $16,000 claiming race by seven lengths in May, she has not looked back, winning another five in succession while gradually stepping up in class.
On Pennsylvania Derby Day last month, Lady Annabelle ran in a deep starter/optional-claiming field featuring 14 runners and a boosted $100,000 purse. She led most of the way and won by 4 1/2 lengths, earning a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure.
While Padilla-Preciado said he was mildly concerned about his mare stretching out to seven furlongs in the Commonwealth, his brother said it was perfect for Nature’s Candy. The 5-2 second choice has won 3 of 4 starts at the distance and will cut back after fading to fourth in the $150,000 Philly Special, which was also run on Pennsylvania Derby Day last month.
“[Seven furlongs] is her best distance,” Hugo Padilla said. “In my opinion, that’s where she's the best, either seven or a flat mile is where she's done the best in her life.”
The 6-year-old Nature's Candy scratched from the $75,000 Princess of Sylmar at Presque Isle in August, which led to a short layoff before the Philly Special. In July, she earned her second stakes victory at seven furlongs when she won the $100,000 Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial in gate-to-wire fashion with an 84 Beyer.
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