Dispatched as the 8-5 favorite at Penn National, the Gary Contessa pupil
Rydilluc carved out the kind of stalk-and-pounce trip that had served him so
On the far turn, Rydilluc attacked through six furlongs in 1:11, and set sail
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But Rydilluc’s late burst made him uncatchable, and he held by three-quarters
of a length. The son of Medaglia d’Oro clocked his seventh
furlong in :11 1/5, reaching the eighth-pole in 1:22 2/5, and got his final
furlong in :11 2/5 to complete the mile in 1:33 4/5.
“I wanted to sit right off the leader,” Prado said. “He placed himself very
comfortably; he was pricking his ears. I was very happy where I was. It was just
a matter of time where I can press the button and let him roll, and when I did
he came home very strong.”
Rydilluc paid $5.20, $3.80 and $2.60 while boosting his bankroll to $471,990
from a record of 6-4-0-0.
“He just stamped himself as arguably the best three-year-old turf horse right
now, and we’re going to stay there,” Contessa said of the colt, who is
campaigned by Green, Massaro, Lerner, Shay and Dellatore-Bobo.
“I’d say next stop Virginia Derby (July 13 at Colonial Downs) and then on to
the Secretariat (August 17 at Arlington Park) and then let’s try to win a race
with him at Saratoga as well.
“He got it all together today and he looked magnificent doing it. I wanted to
be snuggly behind a 99-1 shot for sure! That’s how he won the Palm Beach, that’s
how he won most of his turf races, just stalking the pace. He had the
opportunity again, and, hey, if that 99-1 shot (Yougotthatgoinforu) didn’t go to
the lead, I would have been happy to go to the lead. But they’re going to have
to give it to me; I’m not going to send him to the lead. So, it was perfect, it
set up very well.”
Charming Kitten nipped Jack Milton for second. There was a 2 3/4-length gap
back to 37-1 Pitch N Roll, who edged Noble Tune for fourth. Are You Kidding Me
was another neck away in sixth, followed by Triple Cross and Yougotthatgoinforu.
Rydilluc flopped in his career debut at Belmont Park last October, which also
happened to be his only start on dirt. He backed up to a remote fifth, beaten
more than 22 lengths by Delhomme, but Contessa doesn’t believe that was a true
indicator of his dirt ability. Switched to turf at Aqueduct for his second try
on November 23, and picking up Prado, Rydilluc romped by 4 1/2 lengths. He
subsequently slammed an entry-level allowance field at Gulfstream Park by 5 3/4
lengths on January 5, and extended his streak to three in the Palm Beach.
Rydilluc experimented with Polytrack in the Blue Grass, where he made a bold bid
to wire the Derby prep, only to retreat to fourth in deep stretch.
Bred by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds,
Rydilluc is a three-time veteran of the sales ring. The bay fetched $55,000 as a
Keeneland September yearling, failed to reach his reserve when bringing a
$90,000 bid as a Fasig-Tipton Florida two-year-old, and ultimately brought
$150,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic Sale last May.
Rydilluc is a half-brother to three other stakes performers — multiple
stakes scorer Gold Wonder and the stakes-placed pair of Dangerous Guy and
Whambam. They are all out of the stakes-winning Clever Trick mare Swift and
Classy, herself a half-sister to multiple stakes victress and Grade 3-placed
Seducer, the dam of multiple Grade 3 queen Seducer’s Song. This is the immediate
family of Grade 1-winning sires Roman Ruler and El Corredor.
Contessa was elated to be the winning trainer of the first Penn Mile.
“I won the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, which was a great moment
because I took the whip away from that filly the day of the race, and she won it
with no whip. That was Do It With Style in 1992.
“This absolutely ranks as one of my top two races of my career,” Contessa
enthused. “I’m thrilled. It’s the horse. It’s the race. Penn National is going
to be on the map because of this race. This is a great race, and the timing is
great. Next year it will be graded for the next guy.”
The Penn Mile was the centerpiece of a seven-stakes card.
Kendrick Carmouche nestled the 7-2 third choice in a close fifth early.
“The horse does a great job,” Carmouche said. “It might not be Easter, but he
“We kind of wanted to keep him in the clear,” said John Panagot, LaPenta’s
“We knew what we wanted to — give him a target, keep him in the clear and
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Norman Asbjornson had 2 1/2 lengths to spare over Pants on Fire. Macho Macho,
the 8-5 favorite, made headway from last to grab fourth, and Rattlesnake Bridge
tired to fifth in the eight-horse field.
Easter Gift’s resume now reads 11-6-2-1, $526,166. Originally trained by Nick
Zito, the Hard Spun colt just missed in the Pegasus at Monmouth last June, and
two starts later, broke through with a 4 1/2-length tally in the Smarty Jones.
He failed to build on that effort, however, and was subsequently transferred to
Brown. In his first start for the barn at Gulfstream Park in January, Easter
Gift was runner-up to Swagger Jack. He next captured an allowance over
Aqueduct’s inner track, dominated an April 16 allowance at Parx, and made it
three in a row here.
Meanwhile, Tightend Touchdown was merrily motoring in isolation on the front
Bridgetown chased in second throughout and held the runner-up spot by 1 3/4
The stewards quickly posted an inquiry sign, and after an objection was
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Tightend Touchdown’s first stakes victory improved his record to 18-9-2-1,
$301,545. The Pure Precision gelding has spent most of his career in the
claiming ranks, but after romping in his last two in starter optional claimers,
his sights were raised considerably here. He passed the test and racked up his
third straight win.
“He’s a fast horse,” Castellano said. “It worked out great. It was a big
field, and I had an inside post. Five furlongs, a fast horse, inside — the best
way to go is let him break and put him on the lead. Servis, he did a great job
with the horse. He was pretty sharp for the race.
“The last time he ran in Belmont, he was pretty impressive. They ran in that
race (a win on May 16 at Belmont Park) for this race. I was just the pilot
today. I feel very lucky to ride the horse. Basically, it worked out great for
me.
“I knew I was pretty far in front. I felt the win. It was as fast as he can
go, but he was really comfortable, not rank at all. When I asked him turning for
home, he took off again. He had another gear. I said, ‘wow.'”
The Penn Dash on dirt was split into two divisions, and the owner/trainer
tandem of Ronald Ulrich and Timothy Kreiser swept them both with a pair of
stakes debutants.
Blue Mountain Cat posted a wire-to-wire upset at 9-1 in the $50,000
first
division. Ridden by David Cora, the Discreet Cat gelding spurted 1 1/2
lengths clear while zipping five-eighths in :57 2/5. Blue Mountain Cat now
brandishes a mark of 19-7-1-1, $129,573.
The minor awards were altered by a double disqualification. The fourth across
the wire, Run with Me, had been caught in a squeeze play at the start between
Kens Cape and Candyman E, the respective second and third. After a claim of
foul, the stewards reviewed the incident at the gate and accordingly demoted
both of the placed horses. Run with Me was elevated to second, Kens Cape was
reduced to third, and 4-5 favorite Candyman E was knocked down to fourth.
Matthew Rispoli guided King Henry in the $48,500
second division, which was marred by the breakdown of 9-5 favorite Manito in
the stretch. Manito had swept to the front, only to be confronted by the 5-2
King Henry, and fell while engaged in the duel. Jockey Julian Pimentel was
unseated, but appeared to spring back up onto his feet. King Henry went on to
prevail by 1 3/4 lengths, also in :57 2/5, and the gelded son of Congrats
increased his earnings to $209,614 from a record of 29-8-5-6.
Rispoli had an armchair ride aboard Uptown Boy in the $60,000
E
Dubai HBPA, one of a pair of six-furlong stakes for state-breds. Owned by
Thomas G. McClay and trained by T. Houghton, the 8-1 chance argued the pace
before pulling away by seven lengths. His final time of 1:08 4/5 was a tick off
the track record. The three-year-old gelding by Johannesburg was defeating his
elders here, and this second stakes victory advanced his resume to 10-4-3-1,
$185,490.
Jal Dastur’s
Lisa Stannard kicked off the evening program with a stubborn success in the
$60,000
Silver Train HBPA, the companion race for distaffers. Forcing the pace while five wide beneath
Javier Santiago, the Michael Pino filly put her head in front in the stretch, and
the 9-5 shot held the late thrust of Power of Snunner by a neck. The daughter of Lite the
Fuse covered six furlongs in 1:11 to earn her first stakes score, upping her
line to 15-6-3-4, $223,020.
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