Condo Commando Romps in Busher

After taking a misstep in her second stride out of the gate, Condo Commando was kept to task by Junior Alvarado and was rushed to the front of the field of six, where she set early fractions of 24.54 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 48.78 for the half. As the field turned for home, Paulassilverlining made a bold move to come within striking range of Condo Commando in the upper stretch, but the Tiz Wonderful filly extended her lead in the final yards to win by 4 ¾ lengths, completing the 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.52.

"She broke good the first jump, but the second stride out the gate, it felt to me she got stuck a little bit," said Alvarado. "I showed her the whip to put her in the game. She was much the best. By the middle of the first turn she was settled and I had control. After that, it was just about making sure you didn't fall [off]. At the end she was pretty much playing and she galloped out very nice." 

The victory was the second straight for Condo Commando following a win in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on November 29. Returning $2.40 for a $2 wager, she improved her career record to four wins in five starts while boosting her career earnings to $568,600 for owners Michael Dubb and Bethelem Stables.

"She didn't break that clean, but I thought she was a little better than these fillies and she did it very impressively," said trainer Rudy Rodriguez. "She's been very special to us and hopefully she continues to impress us. I'm going to talk with the owners and discuss the next plans for her and hopefully she'll continue to do a little better."