Padilla enthused about Red Zone Runner's chances in City of Brotherly Love
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Hugo Padilla’s stable at Parx Racing has been rocked by snow and extreme cold this winter, but even with all the lost training time and race cancellations, he could not feel much better about Red Zone Runner in the $75,000 City of Brotherly Love Stakes on Tuesday.
“He’s doing tremendous, man,” Padilla said. “He’s training like a freaking machine. He moves very nice, very mature. His brain is well put together. Very excited.”
In four juvenile starts for trainer Erin McClellan, it didn’t take long for Red Zone Runner to become a stakes contender. A third-place finisher behind Mailata in the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery, he shipped to Laurel Park and finished third again in the $100,000 Heft in December, ending his campaign with a two-length defeat behind Hollywood Import.
When the Pennsylvania-bred’s base at Penn National closed for the winter, owner Thomas Coulter decided to enlist Padilla as his new trainer at Parx. Padilla tried and failed to give him a distance test in January, but he is not afraid to jump straight to 1 1/16 miles in stakes company.
“The way he’s training, he shows me that he can handle distance, no problem,” Padilla said. “But still, you got to put a race under the belt going long, but it didn’t work out.”
Tuesday’s field of eight 3-year-olds is evenly split between last-out stakes competitors and last-out maiden runners. Sam’s Glory, Psalmist, and N. Y. Finest have never won, while outsider Lucky Larry won a $30,000 maiden-claiming race Jan. 8.
Freedom’s Echo and Higher Sense both went from dominant maiden victories to distant losses last time out. Freedom’s Echo ran fourth, beaten 22 1/4 lengths, in the $150,000 Jerome on Jan. 3 at Aqueduct, his first start since an 11-length maiden-claiming score in November.
Trainer Guadalupe Preciado has had immense trouble finding training time for Freedom’s Echo. As of Friday, he was not confident that his colt would run, though the relative weakness of the field may convince him to try.
Higher Sense, a nine-length maiden special weight winner Feb. 4 at Laurel, came back 17 days later for a disappointing fifth in the $100,000 Miracle Wood. If he runs Tuesday, he will do so on an even shorter turnaround for Miguel Penaloza.
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Main Line
Jamie Ness wasn’t planning on bringing Law School back so quickly off a runner-up stakes finish Feb. 21 at Laurel Park. The way she has been going, however, the trainer feels compelled to take his chances around two turns in the $100,000 Main Line on Tuesday.
“She came out of it so good,” Ness said. “She wasn’t even tired. We haven’t run in a couple months, and I try to run at my home tracks if I can. It was a short field, so I decided to take a shot.”
Law School passed her first test at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 7, crushing an allowance field at Laurel by 14 1/4 lengths. She will stretch back out on Tuesday after two stakes tries at seven furlongs.
On Dec. 30, her last race at Parx, Law School proved overwhelming again when she won the $75,000 Future Stars filly division by seven lengths, earning an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. Ness wanted to bring her back in January, but she missed time due to weather. In her February return, she came up three lengths short behind Peach Tie in a four-horse running of the $100,000 Wide Country.
“It was a short field, and I think she came into it missing a lot of training,” Ness said. “She’d been off a couple months. She got checked out of the race and wasn’t quite good enough to make up the ground.”
Between her previous success at the distance and equally strong record at Parx, the stars seem to be aligning for Law School. She will draw the rail against seven 3-year-old fillies seeking their first stakes victory. Three runners are coming out of maiden company, including the winless Ranting and Raving.
Our Golden Gator will make her third start for trainer Mike Moore, who has been ambitious since a debut victory at Parx in January. On Feb. 6, he entered her in the $135,000 Ruthless at Aqueduct, where she finished third by 10 1/4 lengths.
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