O'Neill resists urge to rush Kid Corleone into stakes
Is Kid Corleone in the right race at Del Mar on Saturday?
After an impressive 2022 debut in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs on July 22, Kid Corleone will start as the morning-line favorite in a tough allowance race at six furlongs instead of the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on the same card.
Kid Corleone, who races for Roadrunner Racing and Barbara Evenson, was nominated for the O’Brien. But trainer Doug O’Neill and the ownership group decided that the allowance race was a more suitable goal for the 3-year-old Kid Corleone, who will have his fourth start on Saturday.
“It was one of our considerations,” O’Neill said on Friday in reference to the O’Brien. “It came up salty. He’s in that conversation soon, but we thought tomorrow might be a little too soon.”
Kid Corleone could be in stakes this fall if he duplicates his July 22 win when he disputed the pace and pulled clear by 3 1/2 lengths, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 98.
“If he can repeat his effort the other day, all options are available,” O’Neill said.
Kid Corleone won a maiden special weight race at 6 1/2 furlongs in his second and final start of 2021 last November at Del Mar, but needed a rest over the winter.
“He got body sore,” O’Neill said. “He’s a big colt. The owners did right by him.”
Kid Corleone, the mount of leading rider Juan Hernandez, is part of a field of seven in the allowance race that includes the stakes winners Desmond Doss and Fashionably Fast. Also in the field is Letsgetlucky, who was third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs on July 30.