Rydilluc rebounds in Penn Mile

Rydilluc threw in a blistering final quarter-mile to extend his turf mark to four-for-four (B&D Photography) Rydilluc's Kentucky Derby dreams might have been snuffed out by a tiring fourth in the April 13 Blue Grass over Keeneland's Polytrack, but the highly-regarded colt rebounded back on turf in Saturday night's inaugural running of the $460,000 Penn Mile. Dispatched as the 8-5 favorite at Penn National, the Gary Contessa pupil remained perfect from four turf starts, and regained the mantle of the nation's leading three-year-old on this surface. His primary rival for that honor, Noble Tune, could do no better than fifth off a moderate pace. Rydilluc carved out the kind of stalk-and-pounce trip that had served him so well at Gulfstream Park over the winter, when he dominated in an allowance and in the March 3 Palm Beach in his stakes debut. Regular rider Edgar Prado had him ideally spotted in second as the 100-1 Yougotthatgoinforu doled out fractions of :23 2/5 and :47 4/5 on the firm turf. On the far turn, Rydilluc attacked through six furlongs in 1:11, and set sail for home. The Todd Pletcher duo of Charming Kitten and Jack Milton, who had been tracking the favorite, tried mightily to close the gap. Noble Tune likewise was attempting to get involved without success.

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.

Easter Gift has now won three straight (B&D Photography) Robert V. LaPenta's Easter Gift, whose only prior stakes score came in last September's Smarty Jones at Parx, continued his fondness for Pennsylvania tracks in the $230,000 Mountainview Handicap. Kendrick Carmouche nestled the 7-2 third choice in a close fifth early. Rattlesnake Bridge and Pants on Fire vied for the lead, only to be overtaken by Norman Asbjornson swinging for home. Then Easter Gift produced his rally, drew off by 2 1/4 lengths, and negotiated 1 1/8 miles on the fast track in 1:49 4/5. "The horse does a great job," Carmouche said. "It might not be Easter, but he gives a gift every time he runs." "We kind of wanted to keep him in the clear," said John Panagot, LaPenta's racing manager. "We've picked up in the morning and in his races he does better on the outside. He's not crazy about being down on the inside. (Trainer) Chad (Brown) had said that to Kendrick, and Kendrick's ridden him before and had good luck with him. "We knew what we wanted to -- give him a target, keep him in the clear and give him a run. Kendrick said he relaxed perfect for him. Usually he wants to lug in a little bit, but he was good."

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.

Tightend Touchdown achieved separation while Ben's Cat was being tackled (B&D Photography) In an eventful running of the $135,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap, Mr. Amore Stable's Tightend Touchdown sped to the early lead and increased his margin to 5 1/2 lengths at the wire. But most eyes were on the woes of 2-1 favorite Ben's Cat, who took the worst of a chain reaction on the far turn, and lost all chance when shoved far out on the course. Fortunate to regain his balance after being soundly knocked off stride, Ben's Cat somehow recovered and closed for third. Meanwhile, Tightend Touchdown was merrily motoring in isolation on the front end. Under Javier Castellano, the Jason Servis charge sizzled five grassy furlongs in :54.62, just .01 off the course record, as the 3-1 second choice. Bridgetown chased in second throughout and held the runner-up spot by 1 3/4 lengths from the badly-hampered Ben's Cat. Kyma, the one who caused the incident by veering out on the far turn, crossed the wire in fourth. His other victims, Chamberlain Bridge and Snow Leopard, never regrouped and trailed home as the last pair. The stewards quickly posted an inquiry sign, and after an objection was lodged, they disqualified Kyma and placed him last of 10. Catalactic was elevated to fourth.

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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