El Padrino and jockey John Velazquez broke OK from the one-hole and were able to settle in behind Souper Speedy and Our Entourage going through the first turn. Content to sit behind dawdling fractions El Parino really had no place to go as rivals drew up outside of him throughout the backstretch and continued to keep him inside with little running room.
Coming out of the final turn, El Padrino was waiting to find room and wouldn't until the final 1/16 of a mile when Velazquez angled him out and made a final surge. Closing fast, the final margin was a short 3/4 of a length to the winner and a head for second place while taking the lead just a few strides past the wire.
Overall, it was encouraging to see him step up to the next level and be competitive, but we do feel strongly that he is capable of improving, we and look forward to his next race.
Our strapping son by Pulpit appears to have exited the race in good order. El Padrino will remain at Palm in light training at Palm Meadows for the next two weeks before gearing up for a winter/spring campaign that we hope will land him in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May!
Another LGS 2-year-old colt, Dixie DIce, arrived at Palm Meadows earlier this month and has since recorded a couple nice workouts; he breezed 3/8 of a mile in :38 3/5 on 11/20 and more recently, he breezed 1/2 mile in :48 1/5 on 11/27. We're very pleased to see Dixie Dice back in full training and look forward to his debut at Gulfstream Park.
3-year-old filly Holiday Flare is back in training as well at Palm Meadows, and she recently breezed 3/8 of a mile in :37 2/5 on 11/26. This filly won two races at last year's Gulftream Park meet, and we're excited for similar results this year.