Longshot of the Day: Race 3 at Colonial Downs
Track: Colonial Downs
Race 3: $70K MSW going 1 mile on turf for 3+ fillies & mares
Post Time: 1:28 PM ET
Horse: #11 La Portada (10/1 morning line) use as a win bet at 5/1 or higher.
It is Opening Day at Colonial Downs, which is always a great time to play some turf racing as the Secretariat Turf Course is one of the best in the country. There were two horses I was considering out of this race but ultimately landed on La Portada for trainer Michael Stidham. The Godolphin homebred attempted to run on the turf in debut, but the race was taken off the grass at Delaware Park. The three-year-old daughter of Maclean’s Music was still able to run well coming from near the back of the field to finish third while sprinting five furlongs. The fractions were reasonable, but her running style suggested that added distance, more than pace, would benefit her moving forward. Today, Stidham stretches her out and gets her on the surface he feels fits her best. She has an interesting pedigree as her dam side lineage is mostly dirt as she is out of Centring who had the misfortune of having to run against the likes of Royal Delta and Teen Pauline but was a multiple-time graded stakes-placed runner. Centring also recently produced Central Avenue by Street Sense who finished second to Just FYI in the 2023 Frizette (G1) and was third behind Intricate and Thorpedo Anna in the Golden Rod (G2). La Portada’s second dam, Composure, was a two-time Grade 1 winner in dirt routes for trainer Bob Baffert. There is a ton of class on the female side of the family to suggest La Portada is going to be a solid runner while being by a sire like Maclean’s Music whose runners tend to have a great deal of early success. On the track, Stidham is always solid in these spots winning 21% of his maiden special weight turf races at Colonial Downs over the last five years.
I mentioned at the top that I was deciding between two horses and the other one I considered was #4 Town Light (8/1) who ran a solid third in debut sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the turf at Laurel Park. She should appreciate stretching out and picks up veteran jockey Victor Carrasco who knows his way around the Colonial Downs turf course. The horse fired off a five-furlong bullet work at Fair Hill last week and looks primed to run a big race. My only hesitation is trainer Phil Schoenthal is 1-25 this year. At the right price, this horse could be interesting and should appreciate the added ground after encountering some trouble in debut.