Making just his fourth lifetime start, The Padre became a graded stakes winner in the Aug. 31 Del Mar Derby (G2T) for familiar connections. Just 24 hours earlier, Gold Phoenix captured his fourth Del Mar Handicap (G2T) for trainer Phil D'Amato and a similar ownership group.
Little Red Feather, Sterling Stables, and Marsha Naify co-own both Irish-breds with Agave Racing Stable also part of Gold Phoenix. D'Amato has a knack for finding horses in Ireland who have started just a few times and developing them into top competitors on the Southern California circuit.
The Padre likes to come from behind and, as in his prior race at Del Mar, he encountered a slow pace that could have compromised his chances. But the handy colt didn't let that faze him, either when taking the Aug. 3 La Jolla Handicap or in the 1 1/8-mile Derby.
Freedom's Not Free rambled to the front of the five-horse field early, with jockey Juan Hernandez doing a masterful job of slowing down the pace with him. Freedom's Not Free got away with a first quarter-mile in :25 and a half-mile in :49.67, with Geometry in second and The Padre and jockey Umberto Rispoli racing fourth, just to the outside of Game Warrior.
"The pace was slow—I could tell that," Rispoli said. "But I was sitting with a handful of horse. I wasn't concerned."
Around the second turn, The Padre started to move up, perfectly positioned to challenge Freedom's Not Free and Geometry in the stretch. The Padre came outside of those rivals to score by a length in 1:49.23. Freedom's Not Free held onto second by a neck over Game Warrior, followed by Geometry and Mythical Reel.
"He was up against it last time with no pace, and it kind of looked like a murkier scenario this time," D'Amato said. "But I just think it shows how tremendous a turn of foot this horse has, to overcome fractions this slow two times in a row and outkick them all like he does. That's a real racehorse."
The Padre won his only race in Ireland and ran second in his U.S. debut before graduating against stakes company in the La Jolla.
D'Amato's entire stable has done well for the conditioner over the years. He was winning his 72nd career stakes at Del Mar, sixth on the all-time list at the track and edging closer to the late Charlie Whittingham, fifth with 74.
John Halley bred The Padre in Ireland from the Lomitas mare Shalanaya, winner of the 2009 Prix de l'Opera (G1) in France and, in her only North American start, third in the 2010 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. Shalanaya has also produced stakes-placed Shalamba.
The Padre is by the Dubawi stallion Ghaiyyath, who has been represented in Europe by 2025 group winners My Highness and Mandanaba. A champion in Europe and Germany and a multiple group 1 winner, Ghaiyyath stood for a 2025 stud fee of 20,000 euros at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
