After capturing a maiden special weight and entry-level allowance on turf, Poster made a smooth transition to dirt and joined the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail in Saturday’s $250,000 Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct, gamely prevailing by a nose in the 1 1/8-mile event. The Godolphin homebred son of Munnings was ridden by Flavien Prat, who established a new single-season stakes win record notching his 80th stakes victory and tied the single-season record with his 55th graded win in 2024.
“I’m very thankful,” said Prat, who surpassed Irad Ortiz Jr.’s stakes mark and tied Jerry Bailey for graded wins. “There’s a lot of people behind me who supported me all year long, and Godolphin is a big part of it. They’ve been very supportive of me, and my agent has done a great job as well. Just very thankful.”
Poster picked 10 points toward a berth in the first leg of the Triple Crown next spring in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series qualifier (10-5-3-2-1 scale to top five finishers), and runner-up Avator Gui also secured his first points, rallying determinedly to just miss after a troubled trip.
Eoin Harty trains Poster, a chestnut colt, and it’s the same owner/trainer connections as First Resort, who put his name in the Kentucky Derby mix by winning the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs last Saturday. Both colts were switching turf to dirt, but First Resort had performed well on the main track previously,
Poster lacked experience, but he was bred for the surface switch being out of the Tapit mare Pin Up, a daughter of Broodmare of the Year and Grade 1 dirt winner Cara Rafaela, the dam of the Preakness (G1) and Travers (G1) winner Bernardini, the champion three-year-old male of 2006.
“He’s got a dirt pedigree, and it wasn’t actually his first, well it was his first run on dirt, but he trained on dirt prior to coming to me,” Harty said. “Considering his pedigree, I know the family’s ins and outs, and I didn’t think he’d have a problem with it and I’m glad to be proven right.”
Off as the 4.80-1 fourth choice, Poster rated last of six after an opening quarter-mile in :23.95 and advanced to fifth on the backstretch, racing within a few lengths of pacesetter Tux, who continued to establish splits :48.59 and 1:13.32 while being tracked in second by odds-on favorite Keewaydin. Poster launched a wide bid on the far turn and surged to a clear lead in upper stretch.
Avator Gui also had run approaching the stretch but was caught behind horses along the rail, forced to steady before being swung four wide by Manny Franco. Poster got the jump on his rival and dug in late to deny the fast-closing runner-up, stopping the teletimer in 1:50.37.
Harty was asked if Poster idled on the lead.
“He did,” the trainer said. “(Prat) said he made a premature move, he saw the second horse in some trouble and decided to exploit the moment. He said he felt he moved a bit too soon, but if he didn’t make the move then, it might be a little too late. That is why you employ guys like Prat.”
Prat echoed the same sentiment.
“When I turned for home, I figured it was going to be a long way by myself,” Prat said. “He got to the eighth pole and started looking around and felt like the job was done. He regrouped nicely when that horse came.”
Aviator Gui, a dirt maiden winner two back who was exiting a fourth in the Awad S. on turf, held second by three lengths at 9.70-1 over Tux, who left the starting gate at 4.30-1 off a debut sprint maiden win. Studlydoright, Keewaydin, and Gun Trader completed the order.
Poster is based at Turfway Park, and Harty was asked about a possible return trip to New York for another Kentucky Derby prep race in 2025.
“There’s a lot of good races back up here, there’s a chance you’ll see him again,” Harty said.
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