#Armando R

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton The annual Claiming Crown races were two weeks ago. But a surprise black-type feast for blue-collar campaigners took place over Thanksgiving weekend, when horses once claimed for tags as low as $10000 and $16000 ran away with three of five stakes at Laurel Park, and an 8-year-old gelding bought last year for…

When trainer Damon Dilodovico dropped a $16000 claim slip on Armando R on behalf of owner Ronald Cuneo last November, it appeared to have been a misstep. Armando R won the day they claimed him, burning up the last of his conditions, and then ran poorly in his first start in the new barn, finishing eighth of nine in a first-level allowance. "Ron had…

Ronald Cuneo's Armando R, scratched from a Thanksgiving Day allowance, came with a steady run on the far outside down the center of the track to upset favored Ournationonparade by a half-length in Saturday's $100000 Richard W. Small at Laurel Park. The 22nd running of the 1 1/8-mile Richard Small for 3-year-olds and up anchored three stakes on the…