Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Pantofel Stable's Candy Overload, a Grade 2 winner and recent local victor of the $125,000 Forego Stakes, leads a field of nine sprint specialists that entered Saturday's $125,000 Big Daddy Stakes at Turfway Park.
The six-furlong Big Daddy is named in memory of Rick Leigh, the longtime racing official and racing secretary at Turfway Park. The Big Daddy was carded as Race 7 of 9 with a post time of 8:55 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post is 5:55 p.m.
Trained by Mark Casse, Candy Overload sprung a mild 6-1 upset against seven rivals in the Feb. 4 Forego Stakes when he rallied from just off the pace to defeat Here Mi Song and Night Time by a half-length. Prior to Candy Overload joining Casse's Turfway Park string, the 5-year-old Ontario-bred was based at Woodbine where he was victorious in the $175,000 Kennedy Road Stakes (GII). The 5-year-old gelded son of Reload sports a solid 17-5-5-1 record with purse earnings of $327,758. He'll be ridden in the Big Daddy by Luan Machado from post No. 8.
Among Candy Overload's competition entered in the Big Daddy include the second and third place finishers of the Forego – Nathan Hayden's Here Mi Song and Blue Devil Racing Stable's Night Time.
Here Mi Song, trained by Billy Stinson Jr., is a four-time winner from 17 starts. In the Forego, Here Mi Song took the lead at the head of the stretch but finished second best to Candy Overload. He'll be ridden in the Big Daddy by Fernando De La Cruz from post 3.
Night Time, in the care of Dale Romans, had an eventful journey in the Forego when he jumped a shadow late and finished third. Prior to the Forego, the 6-year-old son of Majesticperfection was much the beset in a conditioned allowance contest at Turfway. Jockey Chris Landeros will be in the saddle from post 4.
Here is the complete field for the Big Daddy from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Bad Beat Brian (Chris Emigh, Brittany Vanden Berg);
- Gun It (Rafael Hernandez, Steve Asmussen);
- Here Mi Song (De La Cruz, Stinson);
- Night Time (Landeros, Romans);
- Anaconda (Gerardo Corrales, Joe Sharp);
- Pole Setter (Thiago Canuto, Hugo Andrade);
- Nobody Listens (Joe Ramos, Tim Eggleston);
- Candy Overload (Machado, Casse);
- Detroit City (Walter Rodriguez, Jack Sisterson).
The Big Daddy holds a special significance to Turfway Park Director of Racing Tyler Picklesimer, who is the stepson of the late Leigh. Picklesimer followed in his stepfather's footsteps becoming the racing secretary at both Turfway Park and Kentucky Downs and a racing steward. Picklesimer will present the trophy for the Big Daddy. Leigh passed away in 2020 at age 73.
Racing at Turfway Park will resume Thursday-Saturday with daily first posts of 5:55 p.m.
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