Busher a starting point for Condo Commando

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Condo Commando, a multiple graded stakes winner and a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly of 2014, will make her 3-year-old debut in the $100,000 Busher Stakes on Feb. 21, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said.

On Tuesday, Condo Commando worked six furlongs in 1:16.31 at Aqueduct, just her third breeze since resuming training. Condo Commando hasn’t raced since winning the Grade 2 Demoiselle by 11 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct on Nov. 29. She also won the Grade 1 Spinaway by 13 1/4 lengths in the slop at Saratoga last summer.

“I don’t think we got her 100 percent, but we got to start her somewhere,” Rodriguez said. “This will be to see where we are and then look for something better.”

Rodriguez is hoping to get Condo Commando to the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle on April 4 and then the Kentucky Oaks on May 1.

Junior Alvarado worked Condo Commando on Tuesday and will ride her in the Busher, Rodriguez said. Joe Bravo rode Condo Commando in her first three starts, and Joel Rosario rode Condo Commando in the Demoiselle, but those riders are in south Florida.

Among Condo Commando’s chief rivals in the Busher will be Overprepared, the winner of the Busanda Stakes on Jan. 16. On Thursday, Overprepared worked four furlongs in 49.95 seconds in company with the 3-year-old colt Bullheaded Boy.

Others targeting the Busher include Hot City Girl, Liberty Island, Sweet on Smokey, and possibly Paulassilverlining.