Zia Derby winner Cedartown ships to Fair Grounds

Cedartown, who won his stakes debut in the $200,000 Zia Park Derby last Wednesday in New Mexico, is settled in at Fair Grounds and is a candidate for some of the meet’s route stakes, according to trainer Mike Stidham.

Cedartown earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 for his Zia Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that he won in 1:43.76. Cedartown rallied for a 1 3/4-length victory.

Cedartown earned a shot at the Zia Derby in part because of an effort he put forth in a first-level allowance at Delaware Park in September, Stidham said. Cedartown ran second to 11-time winner Dr. Blarney, a multiple stakes winner against Massachusetts-breds.

“That day, when [Cedartown] ran up and collared that horse and almost got by him, he kind of tipped his hand that he was a little better than the a-other-than,” Stidham said.

Cedartown is a son of Candy Ride. He is from the same mare that produced multiple Grade 2 winner Danzing Candy, while his second dam produced $4.3 million earner Better Talk Now. Cedartown is owned by Godolphin and has now won 3 of 6 starts and $204,200.

“Certainly, he’s bred to be any kind, and we’ll see how far it takes us,” Stidham said. “Obviously, long range, we hope that he’s good enough to eventually point toward a race like the New Orleans Handicap in March. Along the way, we’ll run in some of the stakes leading up to that race.”

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Fair Grounds preps for the New Orleans Handicap include the $75,000 Louisiana Stakes on Jan. 13 and the Grade 3, $150,000 Mineshaft Handicap on Feb. 17.

Stidham has been training for Godolphin for more than a year, and aside from Cedartown has some promising 2-year-olds for the stable.

“It’s fun training for them because you get horses bred out of this world,” Stidham said. “You never know what they could turn out to be.”

Stidham has divisions of his stable at Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs.