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​Ridin With Biden vies for second consecutive stakes score in $150K Queens County

by Mary Eddy

Cash is King and LC Racing’s graded stakes-winner Ridin With Biden will look to double up on stakes scores as he wraps up his 4-year-old campaign in Saturday’s $150,000 Queens County, a nine-furlong main track route for 3-year-olds and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Trained by Butch Reid, Jr., Ridin With Biden has enjoyed a breakout 4-year-old season, led by his first graded triumph in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup going 1 1/2 miles in September at Parx. The son of Constitution first flashed his talent as a sophomore when a game second in the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont Park, which came on the heels of a pair of victories at Parx that spring. 

"He's really matured this year,” said Reid, Jr. “He's had talent all along but he wasn't a very good actor in the stall and was difficult to train, but he's really come along nicely and settled in. He's been a very consistent racehorse for us this past year."

The dark bay gelding arrives from his third stakes victory this year in the Turkey Trot on November 23 at Parx Racing where he utilized a stalking trip under Paco Lopez. Ridin With Biden tracked in third through the first quarter-mile and improved position throughout the one-mile and 70-yard test to come away with the advantage at the stretch call and score the victory by 1 1/4 lengths over Tough Tickets.

Reid, Jr. said that while Ridin With Biden’s previous stakes scores in the Greenwood Cup and the Deputed Testamony in July at Laurel Park came in wire-to-wire fashion, his Turkey Trot victory showed he can be effective from off-the-pace as well. 

"It was very impressive. He sat off them a little bit and rated extremely well,” Reid, Jr. said. “I think that's part of the maturation process for him. In the past, he had to be on the lead and when he got headed he didn't seem that competitive. But now, he's matured and come a long way. He doesn't need the lead, but he'll be close. 

“He used to fight the jock a lot more, too,” Reid, Jr. continued. “Now, he just settles into a nice pace and likes to run with his chin tucked in and his head down. When he settles into that rhythm, he's very tough to beat. He's running numbers now that are up there with the big boys, and he's going to get a good opportunity up there this weekend."

Ridin With Biden was an $85,000 buy at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and has proven well worth his purchase price, boasting total career earnings of $431,200 from a record of 19-6-5-1. He is the fourth named foal out of the unraced Medaglia d’Oro mare Allemande, who is a half-sister to Achalaya, the dam of multiple graded stakes-winner and millionaire Casa Creed. 

Ridin With Biden has been cross-entered in the Robert T. Manfuso on Friday at Laurel Park and was entered in the Kris Kringle on today’s card at Parx, which was canceled and is expected to be brought back on January 4. He has been assigned post 2 with Frankie Pennington up in the Queens County. 

Twin Creeks Racing Stables’ homebred graded stakes-winner Law Professor [post 5, Manny Franco] will stretch out to nine furlongs after an even fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on November 5 at Keeneland for trainer Rod Atras. 

The dark bay Constitution gelding earned a Grade 1 placing two starts back when a close second to multiple graded stakes-winner Life Is Good in the Woodward contested over a sloppy and sealed Big A main track on October 1. Law Professor moved from the barn of trainer Michael McCarthy this summer and made his first start for Atras a winning one, taking the restricted Tapit over firm turf on September 1 at Kentucky Downs by a half-length over Spanish Kingdom. 

Law Professor’s lone graded victory came in last year’s off-the-turf edition of the Grade 2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita Park, one start before finishing second in the Grade 2 San Pasqual over the same oval. 

The evergreen New York-bred Sea Foam [post 8, Jorge Vargas, Jr.] will make a quick turnaround from a game second-place finish in the Alex M. Robb on December 17 for trainer Michelle Giangiulio. Owned by Ten Strike Racing, Four Corners Racing Stable, Broadview Stables and Cory Moelis Racing, the 7-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro is in search of his first win this year after an abbreviated campaign that began in August with a nose defeat in the Evan Shipman at Saratoga Race Course. 

In the Alex M. Robb, Sea Foam tracked in third position under Kendrick Carmouche and improved to second at the stretch call, but was unable to reel in a runaway Wudda U Think Now and settled for place honors 3 1/4 lengths back to earn his second stakes placing this year. 

“There’s not much else for him until the springtime, but he came out of the last race really good, so I figured we’d take a shot at it,” said Giangiulio. “He is such a cool horse to be around and I know I probably sound like a broken record about him, but he just loves what he does and it’s great to see him put it all out there on the track. He has such a big heart.” 

The Alex M. Robb was Sea Foam’s first start at one mile since his narrow defeat to New York-bred millionaire Bankit in the Evan Shipman, an event he won last year at nine furlongs before it was shortened this year and contested out of the Wilson Chute. Eight of Sea Foam’s 10 career wins have come at distances beyond one mile, including state-bred stakes victories as a sophomore in the Albany and New York Derby for former conditioner Christophe Clement. 

Giangiulio said she is looking forward to getting Sea Foam an extra furlong around two turns. 

“He has running so well at a mile, but I think he does prefer the two turns and getting that bit of a breather if he can get the lead,” said Giangiulio. “It might be a sloppy track, too, and he loves a wet track.” 

Sea Foam sported blinkers for the first time last out, which Giangiulio said helped improve his focus after being forced to utilize stalking trips in his last three outings. 

“I think they helped him to pass horses and continue to run down the lane,” said Giangiulio. “We’ll run him with them on again. I’m hoping we can get the lead this weekend, because he always runs better on the lead. I’m pretty excited.” 

Edward C. Potash, Brad Yankanich and trainer Jim Ryerson’s sophomore Unbridled Bomber streaks in from two victories against older company at allowance level at the Big A. The dark bay son of Upstart scored both of his wins by 4 3/4 lengths, beginning with a strong first-level allowance coup on September 29 from 12 lengths off-the-pace. He followed with another rallying score last out on November 12 to claim a second-level optional claimer from four lengths back. Both efforts garnered a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure. 

The pair of victories marked Unbridled Bomber’s first wins since breaking his maiden at fourth asking last November at Belmont. Since then, the $35,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase struggled to find the winner’s circle, but hit the board twice in seven outings and finished a close fourth in the Jerome in January at the Big A. 

Dylan Davis has the call from post 10. 

Trainer Lynn Cash will saddle two contenders in Grade 2 Kelso-winner Double Crown [post 6, J.D. Acosta] and Southern District [post 3, Luis Angel Batista], both owned by his Built Wright Stables. 

Double Crown, a 5-year-old son of Bourbon Courage, scored the first graded victory of his career in the one-mile Kelso on October 29 at Belmont at the Big A, rallying from last-of-5 at odds of 42-1 to score the 1 3/4-length victory over Baby Yoda in his fourth attempt at graded level. He followed with a distant sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile presented by NYRA Bets on December 3 over a sloppy and sealed Big A.

"He won up there at a mile and he gets a mile and a sixteenth pretty easy, so maybe he'll be a little closer to the lead at a mile and an eighth,” said Cash. “In the Cigar Mile, we were in over our head, but we won the race before when we were in over our head. I don't think he liked the slop."

Double Crown was last seen trying the Turfway Park synthetic and finishing off-the-board in the Prairie Bayou on December 17. Cash said drawing the outside post in the field of 12 made it a difficult task for the seasoned gelding. 

"At Turfway, it's a short run to the corner. He came out of the 12-hole and got caught out. You either have to go slow and tuck in or try and find a spot," Cash said. "When he won in New York, with five or six horses, he got around real easy. But, you get a full field of 12 running and there's always traffic. We're hoping that he'll take that right step and get back on track."

Double Crown was also cross-entered in the now-rescheduled Kris Kringle at Parx. 

Southern District, a 4-year-old Union Rags colt, will make his second start for Cash since he was haltered for $100,000 out of a ninth-place finish in a November 13 optional claimer at Churchill Downs for former conditioner Chad Brown. 

The $335,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase made his first outing for Cash on December 17 at Laurel Park, finishing a closing third from 11 lengths off-the-pace in a third-level optional claimer traveling one-mile over a main track rated as good. 

"He needs all the distance he can get,” said Cash. “I ran him in a ‘3X’ at Laurel and I thought he ran well, but that was a mile and he just needed more distance. He was a ways back, so it would have been nice to have more ground. He's definitely a deep, deep closer. 

"I claimed him for a lot of money,” Cash added. “He's a 4-year-old and he doesn't have any wear and tear on him and he's 100 percent sound. It costs the same to keep that horse in the barn as it does a horse you're running for $22,000, so even if he runs poor, it's OK. He made $6,200 that day running third, so that's one thing about getting better horses in the barn - the bills don't go up, but you're running for better purses."

Cash added that Southern District, who is cross-entered in Friday’s Robert T. Manfuso at Laurel, will sport blinkers for the first time since running an even third in a first-level allowance in January at the Big A. 

"Hopefully it will help keep him closer and also help him close a little bit stronger, too,” said Cash. “At one point it looked like had a shot coming around the corner at Laurel, but he just flattened out or stopped closing as hard."

Trainer Uriah St. Lewis’ Forewarned [post 9, Jose Gomez] will try to defend his title in this event after he sprung a 42-1 upset over Empty Tomb in last year’s running. The 7-year-old son of Flat Out is in search of his first win since a determined victory by a head in the Excelsior in April at the Big A. Since then, the Ohio-bred has picked up two more restricted stakes placings, finishing second in the Best of Ohio Governor’s Buckeye Cup and the Best of Ohio Endurance, which he had previously won for the past three years. 

Forewarned had also been cross-entered in the Kris Kringle. 

Completing the field are stakes-placed Naval Aviator [post 1, Jeremy Laprida]; 2021 Grade 2 Wood Memorial-winner Bourbonic [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche]; graded stakes-placed Thomas Shelby [post 7, Jose Lezcano]; and stakes-winner Shooger Ray Too [post 11, Abner Adorno]. 

The Queens County is slated as Race 8 on Saturday’s nine-race program. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern. 

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