Shut It Down must show he's worthy

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Shut It Down, second to El Brujo when opening up his campaign in the seven-furlong Queenston, could earn himself a trip to the June 21 Queen's Plate with a favorable performance in Friday's 1 1/16-mile feature. The $73,500 second-level allowance for Ontario-sired colts and geldings attracted eight, including My Bad, who finished second behind El Brujo in the six-furlong Achievement in his first outing of the season.

The fourth-race headliner is one of three allowance races on the nine-race card. In the $72,200 second race, a six-furlong first-level allowance for 3-year-old colts and geldings, Dublin Lane will be seeking his second win in as many starts this year.

In the $72,200 eighth race, a first-level turf allowance for fillies and mares, Elision should be favored off her last-out second-place finish in a key race at Keeneland.

Shut It Down, owned by K.K. Sangara and trained by Lorne Richards, became a stakes winner here last fall in the restricted Frost King over seven furlongs, bobbling at the start and rallying for a 5 1/2-length score. But in his next and last outing of the season, Shut It Down stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for the restricted Kingarvie and finished a tiring ninth after breaking from the outside in the field of 11.

"I think you have to throw that race out," said Richards. "He doesn't adapt well to change. When he drew the outside post, he was gone."

Richards also believes that Shut It Down should be ready to move forward from the Queenston. He set a moderate pace in that race and wound up beaten 1 1/4 lengths.

"I'd done the bare minimum with him," said Richards. "If he can run well enough on Friday with what we've done, I can turn the screws up on him and we'll look at the Queen's Plate."

My Bad was beaten 8 1/2 lengths in the Achievement, but then was an emphatic winner of a restricted first-level allowance over seven furlongs. A homebred who races for Tucci Stable and is trained by Nick Gonzalez, My Bad will be racing around two turns for the first time. Regular rider Emma-Jayne Wilson will be aboard.

"The way he ran last time, he'll go the distance," said Martha Gonzalez, Nick's wife and assistant.

My Bad, is not nominated to the 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate but could be supplemented at a cost of $25,000 on entry day.

"That's the whole idea of this race," said Gonzalez. "He'd have to earn his way in."