INGLEWOOD, Calif. (April 30, 2008) - Madeo rallied from fourth at the quarter pole under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith to post his second straight victory in Wednesday's $54,600 allowance feature at Hollywood Park.
The bay son of Mizzen Mast covered 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track in 1:41.66 while finishing 1 1/4 lengths clear of Tangled Tango, giving notice he could be a 3-year-old to be reckoned with later in the Hollywood Park meet.
Madeo is a homebred owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and trained by John Shirreffs, whom Smith teamed with in 2005 to win the Kentucky Derby on Giacomo.
A year ago the group connected in Hollywood Park's Swaps Stakes with Tiago and they could have another threat this year in Madeo.
Madeo finished a distant fifth in his career debut in March, but rebounded to score a 6¼-length victory in his second start. The second choice in a field of nine Wednesday, he paid $8.20, $5.20 and $4.60. Tangled Tango returned $8.40 and $6.20, while the show payoff on Power Blitz was $4.60.
With a carryover of $555,186 entering Wednesday's program, an additional $2,025,533 was bet for a total Pick Six pool for $2,580,719. Thirty-four perfect tickets were each worth $49,403.40.
Atka set a track record of :51.34 for 4½ furlongs in the second race, while Tyler Baze rode a pair of winners.
