Madefromlucky, the lone Thoroughbred and leading money-winner in The Stable That God Loves, heads a group of the stable’s star performers in lucrative stakes events this coming weekend.
Madefromlucky, the handsome chestnut three-year-old that notched impressive victories in the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at New York’s Belmont Park and the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort, will be looking to extend his lucrative winning streak Saturday in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for Erin, Ont. horseman Mac Nichol and Everett Dobson, who is one of the owners of the Oklahoma Thunder of the NBA.
Madefromlucky, who is a gem of consistency with three wins, a second and $841,700 in earnings from seven starts in 2015, will head postward in the 10-horse field with John Velazquez in the irons from Post 5. Madefromlucky will carry 122 lbs in the one and one-eighth-mile test for three-year-olds at Parx Racing, formerly Keystone, in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
Madefromlucky’s only losses since his maiden victory in December came at the swift hooves of eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh.
“He is training well and he will like the one and one-eighth-mile distance,” said Mac Nichol. “There is plenty of early speed in the race and that will suit him fine.”
The Todd Pletcher trainee is 4-1 on the morning line.
One per cent of Madefromlucky’s 2015 purse earnings will be donated to the Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada through the Stable That God Loves, a major fundraising initiative for the chaplaincy that is dedicated to providing for the emotional, physical, spiritual and human needs of the horse racing work force in southern Ontario.
Closer to home, on Saturday at Mohawk Racetrack, Doug Millard’s crack three-year-old trotting filly Elegant Serenity will face some of the best sophomore trotting fillies that harness racing has to offer, including Mission Brief, in the $404,000 Elegantimage Stakes, a race named in honour of her dam.
Dustin Jones’ Dont Rush, with three wins and $119,116 in seasonal earnings, has a daunting challenge in the $700,000 Canadian Trotting Classic, which drew a field of 10 three-year-olds, including this year’s Hambletonian winner, Pinkman. Casie Coleman will send out Ed James’ McWicked in the Preferred Pace (Race 6). PL Idaho – the winningest member of the Stable That God Loves with six trips down victory lane this season for Uxbridge horseman Norm Clements – will start from Post 6 in the first race. Both PL Idaho and McWicked will be driven by Chris Christoforou and are listed as morning line favourites for their respective assignments.
Stateside on Saturday, Soto, who is trained by Jimmy Takter for Toronto’s Rob and Wayne Giles, will start in a $50,000 New York Sire Stakes event at Vernon Downs. Also, Luck Be Withyou, the stable’s second-leading money-winner with $352,790 for John Craig of North York, will tackle a good field of free-for-allers at Pocono Downs.
(Stable That God Loves)