TDN RISING STARS

November 10, 2023 - Del Mar, Race 4, Msw, USD $61,000, 1M

Coach Prime, C, 2, 2021 by Quality Road

1st Dam: Act Now, by Street Sense
2nd Dam: Always Trouble, by Bernardini
3rd Dam: Spunoutacontrol, by Wild Again

Owner: Zedan Racing Stables Inc
Breeder: Kim Nardelli, Rodney Nardelli & William Werner & W S Farish (KY)
Trainer: Bob Baffert

Making his first start on the main track after finishing a sneaky-good third when trying the turf on his Santa Anita debut Oct. 7. Zedan Racing Stables' Coach Prime (c, 2, Quality Road-Act Now, by Street Sense) was let off the leash with a furlong and a half to go Friday at Del Mar and powered away from his rivals to become the afternoon's second 'TDN Rising Star'.

The joint third-priciest offering at last year's Keeneland September sale when hammering to bloodstock agent Donato Lanni for $1.7 million, was roughed up a bit after breaking from gate nine in a field of 10 and took a few awkward strides, but that bit of trouble at the start assured that he would be able to get in and save a bit of ground three wide around the first turn. Remaining a couple of paths off the inside down the backstretch, Coach Prime looked as if he'd like to go on with things at an early stage, but Flavien Prat sat hard against him, waiting for the right moment to set him alight. Shuffled back into sixth, but still well within striking distance as they raced towards the quarter pole, Coach Prime advanced in hand into the lane, and when he was asked to take a gap between horses, he burst through, got a single right-handed reminder and was shown the whip the rest of the way, graduating by 7 1/4 emphatic lengths as the somewhat chilly 7-5 favorite.

Ostensibly named for University of Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders, Coach Prime is out of a winning half-sister to the stakes-placed The Right Path (Quality Road), a mare who was purchased for $150,000 in foal to Kitten's Joy at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale. The majority of the black-type in the family is under the colt's third dam, a half-sister to Minardi (Boundary) and Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) who produced MGSW & MGISP Fed Biz (Giant's Causeway) and SW Spun Silk (A.P. Indy), the dam of GI Vosburgh S. winner Joking (Distorted Humor).