Redesdale to get tested by salty old pros

NEW ORLEANS – Two starts and two wins into his career, Redesdale appears to be an unusually talented horse, and his abundance of talent will have to make up for a lack of seasoning in the featured seventh race Friday at Fair Grounds.

This is the era of the optional claimer, and the Friday feature, at six furlongs on dirt for second-level allowance horses or $40,000 claimers, is such a race. Young, inexperienced horses like Redesdale once upon a time faced other young, relatively inexperienced horses as they climbed the allowance ladder. These days, they are likely to be matched against veteran mid- and high-priced claimers, like Redesdale is on Friday.

Redesdale’s two starts are five fewer than the next-least-experienced entrant, and the five horses entered under the race’s claiming option have combined to make 106 starts. And all that might not matter if Redesdale proves as capable as he has looked in his pair of wins.

The first of them came last fall at Churchill Downs, after which Redesdale needed time to recover from what trainer Brendan Walsh has described as a minor setback. The second came Jan. 20 at Fair Grounds, where Redesdale rated kindly in second behind a sharp front-runner named Wainscott before bursting past that capable foe in the final furlong. Redesdale, a son of Speightstown out of the excellent racemare Harpia, galloped out with great energy and has come back to work three times.

“It’s going to be a good test for him,” Walsh said. “These are good, seasoned horses, and they’re always tough to beat no matter how good you think yours is. We think he’s a talented horse. It’s the next step for him. He could run second or third Friday, and he might still be a very nice horse.”

Post 1 heightens Redesdale’s challenge, but Walsh said the 4-year-old “has a great mind.” Redesdale also has the speed and gears to get himself and jockey Robby Albarado into decent position from the start, and to adapt to whatever roadblocks come at him in the running. But bettors might find the risk-reward ratio unpalatable: Redesdale was 4-5 last out and probably will be bet below fair value Friday.

Adens Dream, one of the other three not entered for a tag, could be his main rival. Adens Dream, co-owned and trained by Hugh Robertson, beat the same horse as Redesdale, Wainscott, by a larger margin in a first-level allowance Dec. 29. Wainscott had improved when he faced Redesdale in January, but Adens Dream undoubtedly ran a strong race, and though he has made nine starts, only three have come on dirt, and Adens Dream is well drawn on the outside.