Prado's Sweet Ride Draws Off in Falls City Handicap
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Photo: Coady Photography
Prado's Sweet Ride wins the Falls City Handicap
Darrell and Sadie Brommer's 6-year-old homebred mare Prado's Sweet Ride led every step of the way and drew off in deep stretch for a decisive 4 3/4-length win over 3-5 favorite Devine Miss Grey in the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (G2) Nov. 22 at Churchill Downs.
Prado's Sweet Ride, trained by Chris Block and ridden by Florent Geroux, ran 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in 1:50.50.
After a break from post 6 in the field of seven, the Chicago-based Prado's Sweet Ride dictated the pace through fractions of :23.93, :48.60, and 1:13.17. Devine Miss Grey stalked the pace from the inside and came within 1 1/2 lengths of the leader at the top of the stretch, but Prado's Sweet Ride turned back the challenge, drew away late, and was geared down in the final yards.
"I really didn't expect to be on the lead, but I thought we would be close to the pace," Geroux said. "Things worked out well. We had a perfect pace up front when (Divine Miss Grey) didn't break that sharply. She dug in well down the lane and was very impressive this afternoon."
Prado's Sweet Ride is an Illinois-bred daughter of the Block-trained stallion Fort Prado , out of the General Meeting mare Excellent Idea.
The victory was worth $121,520 to her connections and pushed Prado's Sweet Ride's lifetime earnings to $548,914 from a record of 8-5-7 in 30 starts. The Falls City was the second graded stakes win of her career and both have come at Churchill. In 2015 she scored a 9-1 upset in the Regret (G3) with a head victory over Lady Zuzu.
"This has been a very good Thanksgiving for us, thanks to this filly," said Block's assistant trainer Martin Martinez. "She ran so big this afternoon and trained so well all season. She really handled the dirt well this afternoon, and she has in the past. She's been very versatile and was very impressive today."
For Block it was his second Falls City Handicap victory. He won the 2010 Thanksgiving Day renewal with 3-year-old filly Dundalk Dust.
Prado's Sweet Ride returned $13.80, $4.80, and $3.60 across the board at 5-1. Devine Miss Grey finished second and returned $2.40 and $2.10. Dutch Parrot came in another length back in third and paid $4 to show.
Red Dane, Dreamcall, Skeptic, and Mannerly completed the order of finish.