Country Candy draws well for E.L. Gaylord Memorial

Country Candy will break from post 3 in Friday night’s $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial at Remington Park, and the starting slot is ideal, said trainer J.R. Caldwell.

Caldwell said he likes that Country Candy is situated immediately outside of two of the race’s top contenders, Gold Shock, who will break from the rail, and Girls Know Best.

Country Candy is part of a six-horse field for the Gaylord, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies. She won the first stakes race of her career in the $60,000 Evangeline Downs Princess on Aug. 27 and before that was third in the Debutante at Churchill Downs. The Debutante winner, Pretty City Dancer, went on to win the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga in a dead heat.

Country Candy used wire-to-wire tactics in the Evangeline Princess, just like she did when she won her debut by 9 1/4 lengths in a maiden special weight in May at Lone Star Park. Her works for the Gaylord include a half-mile in 52.60 seconds Sept. 24 and five-eighths in 1:00.40 on Oct. 1, both at Remington.

“We’ve been working on getting her to rate and finish,” said Caldwell, noting that Country Candy will be traveling farther than ever before in the Gaylord.

David Cabrera has the mount for Keene Thoroughbreds.

Gold Shock, coming off an allowance win at Remington, has tactical speed and might get an ideal setup behind such quick rivals as Girls Know Best, Country Candy, The Last Scout, and Chanel’s Legacy.

Girls Know Best has won two of three starts, with her most recent race an allowance win Sept. 24 at Remington. Her dam, Now U Know, produced a past winner of the Delta Downs Princess in Now I Know, an earner of $461,721 and a multiple stakes winner at Remington.

The card Friday night also includes an allowance route that matches Bold Conquest, the third-place finisher from the $175,000 Governor’s Cup at Remington, against Pass the Buck and Secret Passage, the fourth- and fifth-place finishers from the Oklahoma Derby.