by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — She’s had her nose on the starting gate 36 times, but Peter Pellegrino, who conditions 4-year-old Alarming Quick, insists the mare still has a lot to learn.

“Before I got her, she competed a lot at the fairs and not in races against seasoned horses,” the 56-year-old resident of Deerfield Beach, Fla., explained. “I had to put a Murphy Blind on her for awhile because in her first couple races at Pompano, she would see the paddock on the final turn and try to head there. Since we’ve had her she’s never been hit (with the whip) because I really don’t know what she will do. We are still trying to teach her.”

The Iowa-bred, who is owned by Charles Lewis of Westmoreland, N.Y., is a daughter of Branded-Store Alarm. Her pedigree screams out pacing on her dam’s side, but the mare has found her best stride on the diagonal gait. From 36 starts (35 on the trot), Alarming Quick has a career slate of 17-7-2 and prior to entering Pellegrino’s shedrow after being purchased at last fall’s Delaware Sale, had earned nearly $28,000. Since she has been racing for her new connections, the mare has earned almost $31,000, has only been out of the money twice in 11 starts and lowered her lifetime mark from 2:00.4 to 1:55.3f.

Lap Time Photo – Skip Smith

Alarming Quick (#1) finished in a dead heat for win with Andover America in Pompano’s Open Trot on Feb. 27.

“We bought her for $16,000 and I had watched all the replays of her races at Prairie Meadows,” Pellegrino said. “She was only three at the time and when she went to the winner’s circle, she would just stand there like a seasoned horse and her gait was so effortless; flawless really.

“I told her owner once she starts winging her way out of classes, we could just put her in a claimer and that way he would never get hurt,” he continued. “I knew she was a nice horse, but I never thought she would turn out like this. She races against the boys in the Opens and she is really something. Especially since I don’t think she’s really ready for it.”

When she first came into Pellegrino’s care, it was no easy task to get Alarming Quick attached to a cart.

“It would take three people to hook her up and she would start rearing up, acting like she was going to go backwards,” he said. “She is smart though and has learned, so now it’s not a problem. Except you have to watch her when she’s jogging, because she kicked me out of the cart. They had to take me off the track in a golf cart, but she went back to her stall, with the jog cart sideways, without a scratch on her. I was so worried she would hurt herself.”

Although Pellegrino is adamant the mare is a sweetheart around the barn and to handle, he does acknowledge she has several idiosyncrasies.

“You have to walk her over to the paddock with ear plugs and a hood, because she starts rearing up and striking out,” he said. “She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, I think she’s just preparing herself and getting fired up.

“She also hates to train and lets you know it by pulling herself up,” Pellegrino continued. “We jog her longer miles and she just loves that; she would jog for an hour and a half if you let her. Also, she just loves to eat and her favorite is sweet potatoes. If you cut one up and put it in her food she destroys it.”

Alarming Quick will race at Pompano on Saturday night and then ship to Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs with the rest of Pellegrino’s eight horse stable for the summer.

“I don’t want to throw her to the wolves,” he said. “I want to keep her where she belongs and not bury her. It’s tough down here in Florida, because once you get through non-winners of six, you have no choice but to go into the Opens. I’ll take her to Pocono and then when Chester opens adjust. If I have to ship her to the Meadowlands, to find the right class for her, I will. I knew she was a nice horse, but never thought she would turn out like this. She is something special.”