John Wade’s Pedrolino may have been cut out for better things than the low claiming ranks, but his descent to a $7,500 claiming race at Presque Isle Downs in August may have given the 5-year-old gelding a new lease on his racing life.
Pedrolino won the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Stakes at Fair Grounds on Saturday, a race that was open to horses that had run for a claiming price of $7,500 or less since January 1, 2010. Pedrolino crushed his six rivals in New Orleans by almost eight lengths with Robby Albarado in the saddle. The win mutuel was $7.00.
Pedrolino’s victory is something of the cherry on top of the sundae for Wade, an Irish native who is in the construction business in the Chicago suburbs. Earlier this year, The Factor, a colt that he and Tony Hegarty bred, was a serious player on the Triple Crown trail and eventually started in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Pedrolino will be eligible to start in starter allowance races throughout all of 2012, a potentially lucrative source of income for a gelding whose future might not have looked so bright several months ago. Doug Matthews trains Pedrolino.
MORAN FINISHES ON UPBEAT
Jockey David Moran finished his first year in North America on a high note, winning six races in the final week of Woodbine’s season. Included in that total were wins for trainers Mike Doyle and Breeda Hayes. The former came in Wednesday’s fifth race, a maiden claiming sprint, aboard Roddy Valente’s Tap Chap, which Doyle had claimed two races back. Tap Chap paid $5.90 to win.
Friday’s sixth race went to John and Breeda Hayes’ Cuvara, which has had a penchant for finishing in the money, but seldom winning. Moran got the 3-year-old gelding up to win by almost two lengths in the claiming route for limited winners at the $20,000 tier. Cuvara paid $16.10 to win.
Moran also squired a couple of longshots on the Saturday card. He was aboard Proud Canadian to help that one break his maiden in the first race; the win price came back $28.00. He took another race for maidens, in this case the fourth race, on Sunshine Promise, which returned $28.40 to win.
Moran finished in 15th place in the Woodbine jockey standings for 2011, winning 33 races from 459 mounts. Doyle tied for 10th place among the trainers at the Ontario oval, winning 30 of 275 races in which he saddled a runner.
Stolonboy has been a source of frustration this season for Joe Walls, who trains the 6-year-old gelding. But a lot of that washed away on Sunday, when Stolonboy gutted out a one-half length victory in a starter allowance marathon on the closing day card at Woodbine. Heading into Sunday’s race, Stolonboy was just 3-for-53 lifetime and 0-for-12 this year, but he was always in the mix in this event run over the main track at 15 furlongs. David Garcia got him home and he returned a $39.60 win mutuel.
LYNCH FINDS
VALUE ON THE ROAD
Cathal Lynch has done well shipping down to Laurel from his base at Philly Park and he headed back up I-95 a winner again on Tuesday when Two Hands LLC’s Diski Dance splashed home a 5-length winner in the eighth race. The 3-year-old stakes-placed gelding hadn’t won since January at Laurel, although he’d been runner-up four times since then. He’d never been worse than second in three tries at Laurel and proved his fondness for the strip by defeating a field of first-level allowance sprinters. He paid $7.60 to win.
At his base at Parx, Lynch got a win on the Sunday card in the second race with Philip Stein’s Freezercrowd, a 3-year-old filly he’d claimed back in June. She hit the sidelines after that effort and returned this fall to finish third in a pair of sprints at Parx. She dropped below her claiming price to towrope a field of $7,500 sprinters with only maiden victories to their credit at odds-on, with Rosario Montanez along for the ride. The margin of victory was two lengths and the win price was $2.60.
