Published:
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Ready to Runaway romped to her eighth career victory last night at Canterbury Park and paid $2.40, while Hat in the Ring did likewise for his fourth victory at Belterra Park and paid $3.60. That's where the similarities ended between the 4-year-old First Dude filly and the 6-year-old First Dude gelding.
Ready to Runaway went wire-to-wire in the $51,000 Glitter Star Stakes, opening a five-length lead in the stretch and going on to win by 8 1/2 over stablemate Clickbait with Roimes Chirinos all but standing in the saddle the last sixteenth. In deep stretch, track announcer Paul Allen put it this way: "Ready to Runaway is a runaway freight train in the Glitter Star and she'll win with style points." She was clocked in 1:43.20 for the 1 1/16 miles and received an Equibase 'E' rating of 105, best number of her career.
The $4,000 Minnesota August yearling in 2017 raised her still-perfect in-the-money record to 8-4-3 in 15 starts, and the $30,000 check boosted her career total to within $20 of the $300,000 mark. She now has five victories and a second in six Canterbury stakes and moved into ninth place among First Dude's leading earners.
Hat in the Ring took a break of six months after his last race in February and was ready to roll in his return. With veteran John McKee riding, he sat close to the pace in third down the backstretch, came between horses on the turn and cruised down the lane to win by 5 1/2 lengths. His record is now 4-7-7 in 38 starts and the $4,500 check increased his earnings to $64,866. He became his sire's Florida-leading 46th winner this year, three better than Khozan.
First Dude has had 14 winners between Aug. 2 and Aug. 19.