🐴 MANCUSO RACE UPDATE — 4/9

Well, today wasn't the day we were hoping for — but that's horse racing, and we're going to give it to you straight right here. Mancuso ran in Race 2 at Oaklawn Park this morning, a $110,000 Maiden Special Weight at six furlongs on the dirt. She broke from post 8 as the 1.60 morning line favorite and unfortunately ran into trouble early — making contact with an outer foe passing the five-eighths pole, which disrupted her rhythm. She chased in the two path around the turn but couldn't sustain her run in the stretch, finishing 5th in a field of nine. The footnotes say it all: "bumped 5/8, 2p, weakened." When a horse gets knocked around early at six furlongs, there's simply not enough time or real estate to recover. It was not a fair look at what this filly is capable of. Trainer Philip D'Amato knows this filly well, and we remain confident in her ability. Mancuso (McKinzie x Medaglia d'Argento) showed us a truly exceptional debut at Del Mar — a runner-up finish behind a filly who went on to win multiple graded stakes including a G1. That form does not just disappear. Today was a bump in the road — literally. We'll regroup, evaluate the options with the connections at Little Red Feather Racing, and come back swinging. She owes us nothing and we owe her every opportunity to show what she's got. 💪 Onward. 🏇