Emotions are sure to run high for trainer Robbie Medina before he starts Praying in the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Medina will almost surely recall his boyhood days when he would watch his father, Robert, a foreman for various Midwest trainers, saddle $5,000 claiming horses. Perhaps he is likely to remember highlights from his 25 years as an assistant to Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, when the horses were of great value and so were the lessons learned.

Robbie Medina (Anne M. Eberhardt/BloodHorse)

Medina, 52, has been to Del Mar with hopes and dreams before, but never under these circumstances. Praying, who earned a fees-paid berth in the Filly & Mare Sprint by winning the Oct. 4 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland, will represent his first Breeders’ Cup starter since he opened his stable three years ago.

“You don’t start off the year thinking you are going to get there. I mean you hope for it,” said the Chicago native. “When you’ve got one that takes you there, it means the world.”

A happy ending for owner Newtown Anner Stud Farm may depend on whether the high-strung 3-year-old daughter of Vekoma can keep cool in front of a Del Mar crowd sure to be as loud as it is large. Let’s just say Praying can be a handful.

For all of her blistering speed, she can be her own worst enemy. She was that when she ran in an allowance optional claiming race going six furlongs on May 24 at Churchill Downs. She entered the paddock a hot, washed-out mess.

“On a 1 to 10 scale on how bad a horse can get in a paddock,” Medina said, “she was about a 13.”

Praying became even more anxious in the saddling enclosure, refusing to cooperate while sweating profusely. She never settled during the post parade. Worst of all, she broke through the starting gate, a misfortune few horses can overcome. Not surprisingly, she wound up seventh of eight, dusted by 27 ½ lengths. She beat one horse when that runner was eased.

“She was as bad as a horse can act,” Medina said. “I hit the reset button with her.”

He thought back to his days with McGaughey. “Obviously, you don’t stay somewhere 25 years if you don’t love it,” he said. “To be in a barn with so many good horses was an unbelievable experience. But the most important thing to me was to work side by side with someone like Shug. It’s the equivalent of being side by side with Tiger Woods and learning golf.”

When Medina asked himself how McGaughey would handle such a volatile filly, the answer was readily apparent. “The number one thing is patience, because if you don’t have it, these horses will teach you to have it,” he said. “Shug’s patience is second to none.”

Praying wins the Prioress Stakes. (Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Medina and his staff worked with the still-maturing sophomore and worked with her some more. Praying did start again until the six-furlong Prioress Stakes on Aug. 30. A large Saratoga weekend crowd sent her off as the longest shot on the board at 21.20-1 based on her previous misconduct.

This time, thanks to McGaughey-like patience during the layoff that preceded the Prioress, she was lady-like beforehand and she rewarded her few backers with a 3 ½-length score. While she was a bit more on her toes than her handlers would like in her most recent start before a large Fall Stars Weekend crowd at Keeneland, she was otherwise professional with a stalking trip for jockey John Velazquez in defeating the accomplished Vahva by half a length.

Medina is delighted that Velazquez, the all-time leader in earnings with a staggering $509 million and then some, has agreed to retain the mount. “I tell people there are a lot of guys you’d probably want over him Monday to Friday but nobody you want over him Saturday and Sunday,” the trainer said. “When the money is down, he’s the best.”

Velazquez credited Medina for all of the schooling that led to Praying’s improved demeanor and the trainer’s first stakes victory at Keeneland. “I have to give it to Robbie. This filly has been a lot of work to get her to where she is right now,” he said after the Thoroughbred Club of America. “She’s a very nervous and a very powerful girl and we try to keep those nerves calmed down. He’s done that with her.”

Praying has won three of nine career starts with four runner-up efforts for earnings of $466,040. She shows every sign of maturing at the ideal time.

“She’s definitely coming into her own,” Medina said. “The most dangerous is a horse coming into a race on a bit of a run, especially fillies at this time of year.”

Medina learned from McGaughey the importance of running horses where they belong. He would not be shipping Praying to Del Mar on Oct. 27 if she did not have more than a prayer.

“To have a horse in the Breeders’ Cup means a lot to me. To have one that has a chance means even more,” he said. “If I were to get lucky, it would be hard to describe.”