Rapid Redux aims for the record book at Laurel

Racing history could be made at Laurel Park as

Rapid

Redux, who has won 18 consecutive starts, looks to tie the modern North

American record of 19 straight victories held by Zenyatta and Pepper's Pride,

when he starts in Thursday afternoon's

6TH race, a $20,000 starter allowance.

The seven-furlong test drew seven runners, including Maryland Million Starter

Handicap winner Shordzwatyadrink. Rapid Redux will start from post position 6.

Post time will be approximately 3:37 p.m. (EDT).

"It looks good," owner Robert Cole said. "It is a competitive race. They

don't run them on paper, but I think we are a little better than everybody

else."

Cole, a Baltimore County native, claimed the son of Pleasantly Perfect on

October 13, 2010, at Penn National for $6,250 and has watched the gelding win 19

of 20 races with earnings of $225,609, the majority in starter allowance

company. He is a perfect 16-of-16 in 2011.

"I am very excited but cautious," Cole said Saturday afternoon at Laurel

Park. "I know one day he is going to get beat. I just hope it isn't Thursday."

The winning streak began on December 2, 2010, at Penn National. Since then

Cole and trainer David Wells have sent their star to seven different tracks,

including three races at Laurel Park and one at Timonium, using seven different

riders. J.D. Acosta, who has been aboard four of the victories during the

streak, is named to ride Thursday.

"I didn't even know about this record until he got to about 10 or 12 wins and

people started talking about it," said Cole, who won seven races on May 9, 2008,

including four at Pimlico Race Course with four different trainers.

"I never thought it was reachable because you need to have so much good luck.

We are fortunate to have a shot at tying it but just because we won 18 in a row

doesn't mean you automatically win the 19th. Anybody can have a bad day. I am

definitely not counting my chickens before they hatch."

Rapid Redux has won at seven different distances from five furlongs to 1 1/8

miles.

Cole is no stranger to a successful claim. In 2003, he claimed Shake You Down

and watched the horse blossom into one of the best sprinters in the country

under the tutelage of trainer Scott Lake, winning five graded races and placing

in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the Grade 1 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.

A 1981 graduate of Loch Raven High School, Cole topped the Maryland standings

four consecutive years (2006-2009), led the nation in victories in 2008 with a

career-best 234 and has ranked among the nation's leaders in wins and earnings

seven times since 2001.