Millionaire Fort Prado was represented by his first winner Friday when
Afortable rallied from last in the
6TH
race at Arlington. Owned by breeder Team Block in partnership with Thomas Fedro
Sr. and trained by Chris Block, the first-time starter quickened decisively off
a slow pace and got up in time by a half-length.
Afortable lagged well back early through splits of :24 3/5 and :50 1/5 on the
firm turf, and the 7-2 chance began to gain ground at the six-furlong mark in
1:15 2/5. The gray colt flew his final furlong in :11 and change to collar
pacesetter Kwacha, who was himself 2 1/4 lengths clear of third. Under Eduardo
Perez, who also rode his sire, Afortable completed the grassy mile in 1:39.
The Illinois-bred is out of the multiple stakes-winning Prized mare Taxable
Deduction, making him a half-brother to Grade 3 scorers Free Fighter and Leading
Astray; multiple Grade 3-placed stakes victor Corrupt; and multiple stakes hero
and Grade 2-placed Suntracer, who was most recently runner-up in the August 17
American St Leger and runs in Saturday’s Kentucky Turf Cup.
Afortable fetched $75,000 from Fedro as a weanling at Keeneland November.
Fort Prado was himself a Block product, having been bred in Illinois by David
Block and trained for most of his career by Chris. The gray was a redoubtable
campaigner over seven seasons of racing, amassing $1,211,681 in earnings from a
record of 59-18-10-8, and accumulating a total of 28 stakes credits. He reigned
as Illinois Horse of the Year and a multiple state-bred champion.
A son of the Sadler’s Wells stallion El Prado, Fort Prado captured 13 stakes,
including the 2006 John B. Connally Turf and the Fair Grounds Handicap and four
renewals of the Black Tie Affair at Arlington. He placed in 15 other stakes,
such as the Shakertown, Robert F. Carey Memorial and two runnings of the Colonel
E.R. Bradley. His extensive stakes resume reveals his versatility, with wins
from 5 1/2 furlongs up to 1 1/8 miles.
The 12-year-old Fort Prado, who was produced by the multiple stakes-winning
Fortunate Prospect mare Fort Pond, stands at Buck Pond Farm near Versailles,
Kentucky, for $5,000, live foal.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at
TwinSpires.com