At first glance, it appeared as though the Equibase chart-maker at Grand Prairie in Western Canada blew it when he had the winner of a $7,500 allowance race – Conrado – and the runner-up – Crown Ruler – both ridden by jockey Juan Apango. However, a quick check revealed that the runner-up goes as Juan Jose Apango. Mystery solved.

    Conrado, bred by Joseph Arboritanza, is a 4-year-old First Dude gelding with a superior record, whose career earnings would be at least doubled if he was campaigning at venues with better purses. But he’s 6-8-2 in 26 starts, and the Grand Prairie check for a mere $2,915 in U. S. dollars only raised his total to $66,183. In 2024 alone he’s been on fire – 4-5-0 in 10 tries with earnings of $33,197. In his last 14 races, dating back to Aug. 8 of last year, he’s posted a record of 5-7-1. 

    In his latest, Conrado battled for the early lead, took over after a quarter and went on to score by 1 1/4 lengths, clocked in 1:11.89; the track record is 1:10.60. He paid $16 and received an 89 Equibase ‘E’ speed figure, best of his career.

    First Dude is less than $13,000 from reaching $1 million in 2024 progeny earnings.