Recruiting Ready flaunts speed in winning Chick Lang Stakes

BALTIMORE – Recruiting Ready may not have had the stamina to be successful on the Triple Crown trail, but he sure has the speed to be an effective sprinter in the 3-year-old division.

Recruiting Ready, sent to the lead early by Horacio Karamanos, put away a would-be pace challenge from Bobby Abu Dhabi and bounded clear to a 3 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico.

Aquamarine, up close early, finished second by three-quarters of a length over Three Rules, the 6-5 favorite. He was followed by Bobby Abu Dhabi, Proforma, Always a Suspect, Theory, and Even Thunder. Liar’s Dice scratched.

The victory was the third straight in a six-furlong race for Recruiting Ready after he finished 10th of 11 in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes going a mile at Gulfstream Park in January.

“He’s got a lot of speed, and he’s learning to run now. He settles a little bit, and he’s making that run at the end vs. stopping before the wire,” said Horacio DePaz, who trains Recruiting Ready for Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Farm. “Yeah, definitely keep him sprinting.”

Karamanos said Recruiting Ready bobbled and was bumped slightly at the start, but the horse quickly assumed command and ran an opening quarter in 22.98 seconds and a half-mile in 45.96 seconds, with Bobby Abu Dhabi kept within a half-length of him.

Turning for home, Recruiting Ready kicked away, opened up and was never threatened in the lane. Aquamarine, under Javier Castellano, rallied along the inside to get second.

Recruiting Ready, a son of Algorithms, covered the six furlongs in 1:10.35 over a "good" track and returned $7.40 as the second choice in the wagering.

“The horse bobbled a little bit, then pick it up and got on the bit right after that contact; nothing bad, just things that happen in a race,” Karamanos said. “He gave me a nice kick in the end. This colt really improved every race, and now he’s at a good level.”

DePaz said he wasn’t sure what would be next for Recruiting Ready but added that he might wait until the Saratoga meet to run him. The first logical option at Saratoga for him would be the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam going 6 1/2 furlongs on July 29.