Number One Dude favored to stay perfect at Will Rogers
Number One Dude will put a perfect Will Rogers Downs record on the line Wednesday, when he starts as a strong favorite in the $55,000 Cherokee Nation Cup.
The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up bred in Oklahoma will share a card with the $55,000 More Than Even Stakes. The races close out the meet.
Number One Dude is 2 for 2 at Will Rogers. He won the Will Rogers Stakes last year at 3 and in April accounted for a mile allowance over the local strip. Number One Dude comes into the Cherokee Nation Cup off a runner-up finish in a Lone Star Park allowance at a mile May 7.
“That last race was a tough, tough race and I was very proud of the way he ran,” said Kari Craddock, who trains Number One Dude. “Every once in a while we have to try open company. We prefer to keep him with Oklahoma-breds, but you can’t do that all the time.
“He’s established himself as a nice miler – open or not.”
Number One Dude is a winner of 7 of 12 starts and more than $300,000. Of his wins, five have come in stakes and all of those were races restricted to horses bred in Oklahoma.
Number One Dude drew the widest post in a field of five Wednesday.
“He loves to chase somebody,” Craddock said. “He does not need the lead. He’s more of a ‘Where are they going? I’m getting close. Okay, let’s go!’ ”
Leandro Goncalves, the regular rider on Number One Dude, again has the mount for owner and breeder Terry Westemeir.
The chief threat could be Rockport Kat, a stakes winner who was fourth in the April allowance won by Number One Dude. The field Wednesday also includes Cruisin Cue, who starts his season after running second by a head in a Remington Park allowance route last December for which he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 82.
Craddock also has a leading contender in the More Than Even, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares bred in Oklahoma. She will saddle Gotta See Red, a three-time stakes winner who is part of a six-horse field.
Gotta See Red is moving back to two turns after running third in the $50,000 Wilma Mankiller at six furlongs May 2 at Will Rogers. The start was the first of the year for Gotta See Red, who last meet won the Cinema Stakes at a mile at Will Rogers. Craddock is pleased for the move back to two turns Wednesday.
“That’s her thing,” she said. “Obviously, she can still sprint. But she prefers the mile. Her momma, Gotagogotagogotago, won many races, all at a mile. This is her daughter. She prefers the mile.”
Gotta See Red, who is by Pollard’s Vision, will break from post 4 under Goncalves.
Gotta See Red races for her breeders, Hal Browning and David Faulkner.
Others set to start include Canada Candy, who is moving back into the Oklahoma-bred ranks after picking up checks in a pair of open-company allowances at Will Rogers.