Radosevich has options for Mo Dont No

Pick your poison. That’s what trainer Jeff Radosevich must do when deciding whether to run his star 3-year-old Ohio-bred Mo Dont No against older statebred sprinters in Saturday’s $75,000 Cardinal Handicap, or challenge several extremely fast open-company 3-year-old sprinters in Monday’s $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint. Both events are at six furlongs at Mahoning Valley Racecourse.

Radosevich was uncertain as of late Wednesday afternoon what he will do, saying he wanted to discuss the options with owner Ron Paolucci, who races under the name Looch Racing Stables.

Mo Dont No drew the rail for the Cardinal.

“I guess the smartest thing to do would be to run against the Ohio-breds,” Radosevich said. “But in that race we have to go against older horses and we drew a bad post. There’s a lot of other speed in the race. The question is whether we can finish against older horses.”

The Steel Valley Sprint drew Awesome Banner, a two-time graded stakes winner in Florida last January; Grade 3 winner Front Pocket Money; and Bandwidth, coming off a 3 1/4-length win with a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

“There are a couple fast horses, but they have to ship here,” Radosevich said. “They’re coming to my place and we drew a lot better in that race on the outside.”

In the Cardinal, Mo Dont No would have to face the 5-year-old Rivers Run Deep, who is 10 for 11 against Ohio-bred sprinters since May 2014. Rivers Run Deep won the 2014 edition of the Cardinal by a neck as the 1-5 favorite, but had a rough start and finished fourth as the 3-5 choice in last year’s race.

Mo Dont No will be cutting back sharply in distance after winning the 1 1/4-mile Best of Ohio Endurance last month. He successsfully made the same distance switch to win an allowance against open company by 6 3/4 lengths in early October.

The field of seven for the Cardinal also includes Candy Bites, who won last year’s Cardinal by 2 1/4 lengths and missed by a neck against Rivers Run Deep and the filly Justalittlesmoke in the Best of Ohio Sprint.

◗ The $75,000 Ohio Debutante on Saturday pits the 6-year-old mare Deniro’s Saint against the improving 3-year-old filly Leona’s Reward. The Debutante is restricted to fillies and mares foaled in Ohio and sired by a stallion who stands in the state.

Deniro’s Saint won the six-furlong Debutante by 3 1/4 lengths as the 3-5 favorite last year. She will be making her first start in five months.

Leona’s Reward, although still eligible for a nonwinners-of-three condition, has been in sharp form since winning her maiden in late July, with a win, a second, and a third. Her two most recent Beyer Speed Figures of 62 and 70 compare favorably with the 63 Deniro’s Saint earned for her 3 3/4-length win in the Dr. T.F. Classen Memorial at Thistledown in April.