Favorites highlight Big Apple Showcase Day at Belmont
Saturday’s “Big Apple Showcase Day” featured seven stakes races for New
York-breds at Belmont Park. In the $150,000
Commentator Handicap, Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence’s Readtheprospectus
kept his winning streak alive when stepping up to stakes company for the first
time. The Chad Brown charge has now won six in a row.
“What a pleasant surprise he has been,” Brown said. “He’s always acted like a
horse with some talent, and after his first couple of starts we started
experimenting with him and learned that it was more about the distance than the
surface. Here’s a horse who wants to run all day, and I think he can run on both
surfaces effectively. He ended up on the dirt by default (in his fifth start) in
a rainout situation, and we’ve just kept him on it. He’s not crazy about one
turn, but he did great today. We’ll just keep spotting him around.
His win streak dates back to October 20, when he broke his maiden over
Belmont’s inner turf course, and his last five wins have come on the main track.
“The plan was to keep him out of trouble, in the clear,” Brown added. “If
he’s good enough, he’ll win. If not, I’ll accept it. The one thing I didn’t want
to do was get him in trouble. He was training too well to risk it.”
Kept well off the inside while stalking the early pace, the four-year-old
gelding took the lead after entering the stretch and held on for a 1 1/4-length victory.
With Junior
Alvarado, who won two stakes on the program, the 6-5 favorite covered 1 1/16
miles in 1:41. Readtheprospectus boosted his bankroll to $304,280 and upped his impressive
career mark to 9-6-1-1.
Gerald and Susan Kresa’s King Kreesa seized control at the start of the $125,000
Kingston
Stakes and led gate-to-wire for a 2 1/4-length win. The four-year-old gelding
was patiently handled until the pressure intensified nearing the
quarter-pole, repulsed a host of challengers in midstretch and edged away late to prevail. With Irad Ortiz Jr.
in the saddle, the Jeremiah Englehart pupil stopped the clock in 1:33 4/5 for
the one-mile contest over the firm Widener turf. The dark bay was exiting a
third-place finish against open rivals in the Fort Marcy on May 4 over this course. King Kreesa
captured his third stakes score and now has a record that stands at 13-4-3-2,
$344,370.
Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables’ Shakeira posted her
first stakes win when taking the $125,000
Mount
Vernon Stakes. The Brown trainee was bumped on both sides at the start and
had to settle three to four wide towards the rear. The 4-5 favorite made her
move on the far turn, swung four to five wide in the stretch and rallied to get
up just before the wire to win by a neck. The five-year-old mare traveled one
mile in 1:35 3/5 over the Widener turf with Rajiv Maragh. The dark bay was
making only her second start of the year after winning an optional claiming race
at Aqueduct in April. Shakeira now has a career line which reads
18-7-8-2 and $382,922 in lifetime earnings.
Peachtree
Stable’s Amberjack benefited from a quick pace in his stakes debut to upset the $125,000
Mike Lee
Stakes. The three-year-old colt settled behind the front runners, angled out
three wide entering the stretch and ran down 7-5 favorite Weekend Hideaway
before kicking away for a 1 3/4-length victory. The Michael Hushion charge
covered seven furlongs in 1:21 3/5 with Alvarado in the irons. The 12-1 longshot
paid $26.80, $10.20 and $6.20 to her backers. The chestnut was exiting an
allowance win against state-breds over a sloppy Belmont track on May 11.
Amberjack’s short resume reads 5-3-0-1, $158,875.
In the first stakes race on the card, Joemar Racing Stables’ homebred Lovely
Syn blew away the field by 10 1/4 lengths as the 1-5 favorite in the $122,500
Bouwerie Stakes . The undefeated three-year-old filly broke
on top and never looked back as she spun seven furlongs in
1:21 2/5. The Dominick Schettino pupil covered seven furlongs over the main
track with Javier Castellano aboard.
The bay was coming off a 9 1/2-length score in the Park Avenue division of New York Stallion Stakes
last month. “She gets better and better every race, and she
does it so easily,” Schettino said. “I talked to Javier about the race, and he’s
happy that she settles. She’s not rank. She relaxes for you and runs well within
herself.”
Lovely Syn boosted her bankroll to $202,200 from
four career starts.
Anjes Farm’s homebred Clear Pasaj wired the field in the $100,000
Dancing Renee Handicap for her first stakes win. The four-year-old filly drifted out in the stretch,
but dug in late to hold on by a head. The Bruce Levine trainee completed seven furlongs
in 1:22 3/5 with Jose Ortiz. The gray was exiting a runner-up finish in the No
Reason Stakes against state-breds at Belmont last month. Clear Pasaj improved
her record to 13-5-5-0, $271,028.
Drawing Away Stable and David Jacobson’s Saginaw
defended his title in the $98,000
Affirmed Success Handicap. After being taken under a snug hold, the 3-5 favorite
experienced a troubled trip when stuck behind traffic rounding the far turn. The
David Jacobson trainee found room to maneuver to the outside in the stretch and
edged away in the final 70 yards to prevail by a half-length. With Alvarado, the bay stopped the clock in 1:15 1/5
for the 6 1/2-furlong contest over the main track.
The seven-year-old gelding recorded his ninth stakes victory. He won a total
of 10 times in 2012 (10 for 14) and is four for four in 2013.
“It’s
a very good accomplishment when you start hitting these kinds of numbers with a
horse,” Jacobson said. “It’s exciting for us to have Saginaw going into Saratoga
off a magnificent performance like this. They really had him boxed in there;
they knew who the horse was to beat. He found a way. Like most great athletes,
he has that instinct — he has to win.”
Saginaw
increased his lifetime earnings to $914,690 from a 39-20-6-3 line.
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