Rain and wet track again friend to Ziadie family

MIAMI - For the second straight Saturday, the south Florida rainy season helped a member of the Ziadie family win a stakes race at Calder.

Last weekend, Ralph Ziadie took the $50,000 Sara's Success Stakes with Cat Can Do, who drew in off the also-eligible list when the race was switched from the turf to the main course because of overnight showers.

There was considerably more precipitation to deal with at Calder this past weekend, with heavy rains leaving little doubt Saturday's $50,000 Blazing Sword Stakes would be moved from the soggy turf to a sloppy main track. The change in surface played right into the hands of Ziadie's son Kirk, whose Paradise Dancer suddenly found himself the 1-5 favorite after five of the 13 members of the original starting lineup were scratched. Paradise Dancer had all eight of his previous victories on dirt, including two overnight sprint stakes here last fall.

A 7-year-old son of Langfuhr, Paradise Dancer engaged in a speed duel with Hal's Image in the opening five furlongs of the one-mile Blazing Sword, while several horses steadied sharply when they jammed up in the run to the first turn.

Paradise Dancer dismissed Hal's Image once settling into the second turn but was immediately engaged by Fancy Silver, who had made a strong move leaving the backstretch under jockey Ray Fuentes. Paradise Dancer asserted his superiority in the stretch, edging away to a three-length victory. It was almost another 24 lengths farther back to Hal's Image, who staggered home third.

Paradise Dancer covered the mile in 1:38.95 over a sloppy, sealed track under jockey Elvis Trujillo and paid $2.60.

* Trujillo also teamed up with the Kirk Ziadie to win Saturday's third race aboard Keystone Point and the seventh with Bourbon Night. On Friday he rode four winners here, putting him second in the jockey standings behind defending champion Manoel Cruz.

* Only 44 horses, about 100 fewer than normal for a Saturday, worked over the sloppy track, led by Soldier's Dancer, who breezed six furlongs in 1:16.60 for trainer Dave Vivian. Soldier's Dancer, winner of the Grade 3 Tropical Park Derby here on New Year's Day, has not started since winning the Sophomore Turf Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on April 7.

* Racing secretary Mike Anifantis will be at Belmont Park this week soliciting nominations for the $2 million Summit of Speed program here on July 7. The Summit of Speed is headed as usual by the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap and Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap, both worth $500,000.