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DP Royal Tea and Billy Carter made it a family daily double Saturday, April 11 at Shenandoah Downs in Virginia. The duo made it to the wire first over Carter’s son, William, driving Thorn Toad.
DP Royal Tea traded blows with Thorn Toad on the front end with DP Royal Tea leading through the quarter in :28.1 before Thorn Toad moved and retook control at the half in :58.4. From there, the outer flow formed led by Singforyoursupper and Iowa’s Nick Roland.
In the final turn, Singforyoursupper had DP Royal Tea locked in behind Thorn Toad. In the stretch, Thorn Toad drifted out and DP Royal Tea poured it on down the stretch to win by a neck in 1:57.4 over Thorn Toad. Singforyoursupper finished third.
DP Royal Tea was a longshot, paying $18.60 for the win. The five-year-old son of Palone Ranger is owned by Jamie Bozman and trained by Billy Carter. Steven Peterink and Randy Dickerhoof bred the Indiana sired gelding, who picked up his second win in his seventh start of 2026. Overall, he has seven wins with his career best time of 1:54.1 taken at Rosecroft Raceway as a three-year-old.
Also a winner earlier in the day at Shenandoah was the former Indiana contender Saddle Up, now owned by PT Stable. The JK Endofanera gelding got away in second behind Hulou and Justin Vincent as the first quarter of :27.3 was placed on the board. Saddle Up was out and moved around to take over at the half in :58.1 and led the way into the stretch.
Horses were three wide in the final turn seeking to unseat Saddle Up but he dug in gamely, fending off all challengers by a neck at the wire in 1:56.1. Jackies Boy and Fern Paquet Jr. finished second over Marco Beach and Corey Braden for third.
Saddle Up paid $12.20 for the win. The Cornerstone Stock Farm product, now trained by Bryson Dunning, earned his first win of 2026 and his 36th overall. He is closing in on a half million in earnings with his career best time of 1:50.1 taken as a three-year-old at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
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