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Taste of Paradise rallies to take Vosburgh David Bloom's TASTE OF PARADISE (Conquistador Cielo) made a late outside run to capture the $500,000 Vosburgh S. (G1) at Belmont Park on Saturday. Sent off as the 26-1 longest shot in the field, the Gary Mandella trainee was content to sit in the back of the pack under jockey Garrett Gomez as Uncle Camie (Abaginone) set the pace up front, rattling of splits of :21 4/5 and :44 2/5 before tiring. Taste of Paradise gradually picked his way through the 10-horse contingent and angled out approaching the eighth-pole, running by the leaders a sixteenth of a mile out to be clear by two lengths under the wire and stop the clock in 1:08 4/5 for the six-furlong fast track test. "I felt like the horse was comfortable coming off the backside," Gomez said. "I was happy at the three-eighths pole. I started swinging around at the top of the stretch. I changed my mind and went and split horses. Then, when I put him out in the clear, he was running. I can't ask the horse to do any better than what he just did." Taste of Paradise returned healthy payouts of $55, $18.60 and $6.30 while leading exotics of $354.50 (exacta) and $917 (8-1-2 trifecta). Tiger Heart (Scatmando) had a short lead at the eighth-pole, but was not able to hold that position, giving back $6.40 and $3.40 for the place while Lion Tamer (Will's Way) came on fast to finish just a neck shy of second, paying $2.60. Silver Wagon (Wagon Limit), I'm the Tiger (Siphon [Brz]), Mass Media (Touch Gold), Unfurl the Flag (Bertrando), Pomeroy (Boundary), Woke Up Dreamin (Holy Bull) and Uncle Camie rounded out the order of finish. "We've been wanting to run him here at Belmont Park," Mandella said. "He has been a little bit problematic, but he was training great and his feet are better than they have been in a while. He was a little hesitant at the top of the stretch, but when he saw daylight, he knew what that meant. He cut and he was gone. Garret rode a great race." Bred in Kentucky by Snukal Abrahams and Bloom, the six-year-old dark bay is out of the winning mare Tastetheteardrops (What Luck), who has also produced stakes winner Crafty Tears (Crafty Friend) and an unnamed weanling filly by Marquetry. Taste of Paradise increases his record to 27-6-2-4 and $807,455 in earnings. Other scores on his resume include the 2003 San Diego H. (G2) and 2004 Vernon O. Underwood S. (G3).
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