Linda Gaudet and Morris Bailey’s Concealed Identity rallied into contention off the far turn and prevailed by nearly a length after
Overlooked at 7-1 among five rivals, the five-year-old
The race was not without controversy,
Service for Ten
After an inquiry and a claim of foul, Concealed Identity
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“He broke good,” said Junior Alvarado, the rider of Norman Asbjornson. “I had
a pretty good trip behind the four horse (Service for Ten) the whole way. I
shifted to the outside from the rail close to home and started coming with the
outside horse. The inside horse then came out and bumped me. The outside horse
came in and bumped me and I lost everything right there. I’m not saying I would
have won but it sure cost me the race.”
“He ran a tough race,” said Julian Pimentel, who was aboard
Service for Ten. “I think the distance was a bit of an issue but they were
gunning for me. We were going comfortable on the backside but then the six (longshot
Peasant) moved and then the three (Adirondack King) moved. It seemed like that
took a lot out of him and he got tired.”
Concealed Identity tracked Service for Ten throughout before
ranging up to engage and pass the front runner. He finished fourth in the
Campbell Handicap last season, but completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:52 1/5 on the
muddy track to take this year’s edition with jockey Trevor McCarthy aboard for
trainer Gaudet.
It turned out to be the first stakes win for both trainer and jockey.
“I can’t believe it,” said McCarthy, who scored his eighth win of
the week and third on the Saturday card. “This is such a great
experience. Concealed Identity is a quality horse and I am grateful to get a
mount like this so early in my career.
“This week has been incredible,” added the 18-year-old, who is a son of
former rider Mike McCarthy and ranks second in the riding standings during the
Laurel winter meeting. “I was
concerned about coming down but I stuck to my lane to try to ride a clean race
to get the win. He broke really nice. I saved as much ground as I could, brought
him out down the backside, kept the dirt out of his face. Coming into the turn
we were just kind of running with them, good momentum, and really dug in that
last eighth of a mile.”
“I’m so excited,” Gaudet smiled. “This is Trevor’s first stakes win, too.
That’s kind of a Gaudet tradition. We (Linda and her retired trainer
husband, Eddie Gaudet) gave Rosie Napravnik a leg up on her first stakes winner as well
as Ryan Fogelsonger and Michael Luzzi. Today me and Trevor got the double.”
“I knew this horse would run
well today,” she continued. “He’d been training better than ever since his last race. A mile is
just a little too short for this horse but he impressed us enough that we
thought we were going to go with this no matter what. Trevor had gotten along
with him very well in his last race so we went with him again. It couldn’t have
turned out better.
“I was worried with the bumping in the stretch but Trevor
assured me we were OK when he came back to the winners’ circle. This horse is
truly a two turn horse and does his best at a mile and an eighth here or at Pimlico. He likes both those courses.”
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