Trainer George Teague Jr. will ship Badlands Nitro, most recently second to eventual Little Brown Jug winner Shadow Play, to Chicago for Friday's $250,000 Windy City Pace at Maywood Park.
The colt has not raced since the September 18 Jug, when he scratched out of the second heat after coming up sick.
After some R and R at the Harrington Training Center in Delaware, Teague is ready to drop him back in the box.
"He's going to Maywood," Teague said on Monday afternoon. Teague's sister and business partner, Brenda, will attend the colt on his Midwest trip. Badlands Nitro has won nine of 14 starts this season, including the $538,270 Art Rooney Pace, $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine and $392,850 Cane Pace.
Stablemate Rudy Rednose will stay a bit closer to home, heading north to Freehold Raceway in New Jersey for the $271,000 James B. Dancer Memorial on Saturday.
"He finished second in the Jug elimination behind Lonestar Legend and he was sixth in the (Jug) final," Teague said. "He hasn't raced since then, but he's a good horse. I tried to get him a three-year-old race at Chester , but he didn't get in, so I just brought him home and trained him."
Teague said the half-mile track should suit the winner of $223,327 this year.
"He finished third and fifth in the Cane Pace (elims and final, respectively) at Freehold earlier this season," Teague said. "He's been there before."
Teague did not keep the two horses eligible to the Messenger (eliminations on October 18; final on October 25) at Yonkers .
"That's a funny race, if you make it to the final, but you don't want to race in it, you can't not enter," he said. "If you do decide not to enter, you have to pay anyway."
Teague cited the race's conditions that call for a horse to pay a $10,000 entry fee and then another $10,000 fee for those horses that advance to the final.
The conditions specify that, "if a horse qualifies for the final and is not replaced prior to the official 'scratch time' deadline for publication of the program, a second starting fee shall be due at scratch time and payable not later than one hour prior to post time of the final."
Rudy Rednose was second to Mccedes in the $500,000 New Jersey Classic in May at the Meadowlands. He is in search of his first stakes victory.
(Harness Racing Communications)