Modo will come out running but may not be alone

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Modo’s dream trip in Friday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park is one that would use one of her best assets – her quickness from the starting gate – said trainer Tom Amoss.

“Ideally, we’d love to control the race out of the gate,” he said. “There is other speed in there. We’ll just see how it plays out.”

Modo is part of a field of 11 in the first-level allowance sprint for 3-year-old fillies. The race will be run over six furlongs and carries a claiming option of $200,000. Others set to start include Rose A, who is a half-sister to $12.9 million earner Senor Buscador.

Modo is back at Oaklawn for the first time since December, when she won a maiden special weight race at six furlongs. She wired the field that afternoon and used the same tactics to win the $75,000 Bara Lass Stakes for Texas-breds in January at Sam Houston. Modo led through a half-mile in a blazing 44.80 seconds in the Bara Lass before going on to cover six furlongs in a swift 1:10.88.

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“She’s very, very fast,” Amoss said.

Modo has raced once since, finishing second in a first-level allowance sprint at Fair Grounds. The six-furlong race won by Stable Currency went in a quick 1:09.67 and the Beyer Speed Figure of 83 that Modo earned is the best last-race number in Friday’s field.

Rafael Bejarano has the mount from post 7 for Joel Politi.

Modo is named for a type of yoga, said Amoss.

“There’s actually a studio in Columbus that offers it, so she’s got a fan base,” Amoss said. “That’s where the Politis are from – they’re from Columbus, Ohio. She has a pretty good fan base back home.”

Rose A has a fan base in New Mexico, where her dam, Rose’s Desert, won seven stakes and earned more than $600,000. But that’s just part of the story.

Rose’s Desert has become a prolific producer. Aside from Senor Buscador, she’s also the dam of Runaway Ghost, a Grade 3 winner of more than $780,000; Sheriff Brown, a multiple stakes winner of $600,000; and Our Iris Rose, a stakes winner of more than $300,000.

The pedigree was one of the reasons Rose A was the 4-5 favorite last out, when she faced older rivals in a maiden special weight sprint at Sunland Park. She aired by 16 lengths while covering 5 1/2 furlongs in a blazing 1:01.99.

The daughter of Hard Spun set the pace and prevailed for her breeder and owner, Peacock Family Racing Stable. She is trained by the same horseman as her siblings, Todd Fincher, and will have Ramon Vazquez aboard from post 2.

Others making up the field include New York-bred stakes winner Accelerating, Gulfstream Park shipper Indy Bay, and the stakes-placed Viggiedal.

◗ Following the Friday card, Oaklawn will offer a total of six stakes and one overnight stakes through the close of its meet May 3. There will be at least one such race a card, beginning with the $200,000 Dig a Diamond here Saturday.

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