Colonial Turf Cup

by Patricia Woo | Jun 14 2010

Fresh off a disappointing 14th place finish in the dirt-run Kentucky Derby on May 1, Dean's Kitten will be returning to turf, a surface on which he has much more experience. Trained by Michael Maker, Dean's Kitten began his 2010 campaign at Gulfstream Park in the Hallandale Beach Stakes, coming in fourth. He improved enough in his next two starts, the Gr. 3 Palm Beach Stakes and the Gr. 2 Lane's End Stakes, to earn enough graded stakes winnings to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky-bred Dean's Kitten is a son of Kitten's Joy and has a career record of 12-3-1-2 and $418,495 in earnings.

Kindergarden Kid is a late-blooming 3-year-old trained by Barclay Tagg who impressed with his allowance race win at Belmont Park on May 20. This son of Dynaformer rallied four-wide to secure the victory for owners Lael Stable; he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91 in only his third career race. Since then, he has been in training at Belmont Park for the Colonial Turf Cup, turning in a 5-furlong breeze in 1:02.64. Kindergarden Kid's career record is 3-2-0-0 and has earnings of $54,200.

Dale Romans' Paddy O'Prado came into his own during the Triple Crown races, winning third place in the Kentucky Derby and coming in sixth in the Preakness Stakes. Though he seemed to make the transition to dirt effortlessly, Paddy O'Prado too will be switching back to a more familiar turf surface for the Colonial Turf Cup. He beat fellow nominee Dean's Kitten in the Gr. 3 Palm Beach Stakes on March 6 at Gulfstream Park before finishing runner-up at Keeneland in the Gr. 1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 10. On June 8, the son of El Prado stopped the clock at 1:01.20 in a 5-furlong breeze at Churchill Downs. He has earned $464,497 for owner Donegal Racing and has a race record of 8-1-2-3.

Others nominated for the Colonial Turf Downs include Lentenor, Doubles Partner, Stately Victor and Exhi.

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