Extra week of rest could help Sr. Quisqueyano in Texas Mile

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – It’s the Texas Mile, Take 2.

A week after severe weather at Lone Star Park led to the postponement of the Grade 3, $200,000 race, the rescheduled edition goes Friday night with Sr. Quisqueyano again in place as the favorite. He is part of a 10-horse field that includes stakes winners Rise Up, One King’s Man, and Texas Air. The forecast is for sunny skies and a high of 80 degrees.

Sr. Quisqueyano flew in from Florida earlier in April to represent his Dallas-based owner, Ron Paolucci, in the Texas Mile. It’s been a good run for the barn of late, with City of Weston taking the Blue Heron last week at Gulfstream Park. Paolucci also won with his first starter of the new meet at ThistleDown, and on Saturday, he will have his first Kentucky Derby starter in War Story.

“This is a huge week,” Paolucci said. “Sr. Quisqueyano, he’s 6-5 on the morning line. He’s a horse, and obviously winning a graded stakes would help his career down the road.”

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KEY CONTENDERS

Sr. Quisqueyano (Last 3 Beyers: 109-91-101)

◗ He is a five-time stakes winner looking for his first graded score one start after missing by a neck in the Grade 3 Skip Away on March 28 at Gulfstream Park. Sr. Quisqueyano fought to the wire with eventual winner Commissioner and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 109. The effort came one start after he finished ninth in the Santa Anita Handicap won by Shared Belief, and it impressed his trainer, Peter Walder.

“For him to come back in three weeks after a cross-country trip, he had every reason to spit it,” Walder said. “Running three weeks earlier, first time outside of Florida, he had every reason to pack it in, but he showed heart and grit and determination.”

Walder said the Skip Away was run over a dead track and that the inside path Sr. Quisqueyano was fighting from was “like quicksand.”

◗ Sr. Quisqueyano, a 5-year-old, did not work back for the Texas Mile this past week, a decision that was by design, said Walder.

“The extra week for him, I love it,” Walder said. “I was toying with the idea of working him on Sunday, but he doesn’t need to work. He just ran three weeks apart.”

◗ Walder also felt that having Sr. Quisqueyano fresh would serve him well when he turns back from 1 3/16 miles and breaks from the rail.

“Not working him, I think he’ll be pretty sharp,” Walder said. “He’s pretty quick. He’ll come out of there running. I’ve trained him a little differently to sharpen him up. I’m really not worried about the cutback to a mile.”

◗ Gerard Melancon has the mount on the horse, who might return for the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap on May 25, said Paolucci.

Rise Up (Last 3 Beyers: 97-90-91)

◗ Proven at the Grade 3 level by virtue of his win in the 2013 Delta Downs Jackpot, the five-time stakes winner could go over $1 million in earnings Friday for owner Paul Van Doren. Rise Up enters with a bankroll of $957,315.

◗ Rise Up is stretching out from a front-running optional $62,500 claiming sprint win at Fair Grounds and figures to be prominent under Richard Eramia.

◗ Eramia and trainer Tom Amoss are seeking their second straight Texas Mile win, following Grand Contender in 2014.