Pan American

Navesink River gave Pletcher and Velazquez their third stakes win on Saturday (Matt Dean/Equi-Photo)

Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez teamed up for a third stakes
win on the card at Gulfstream Park on Saturday when Char-Mari Stable’s NAVESINK
RIVER (Unbridled) took the $150,000
Pan American H. (G2) by a half-length. Sent
off as the second choice at 2-1, the four-year-old stopped the clock in 2:25 4/5
for the 1 1/2-mile firm turf test and returned $6, $3.80 and $3.20 to his
backers.

Settled into a nice stalking position behind a contested lead, the bay rated
just off fractions of :25 2/5, :50 2/5, 1:15 1/5, 1:39 2/5 and 2:02 3/5 for
10 furlongs. The front-running Quest Star (Broad Brush) began to tire entering
the stretch, and Scooter Roach (Mi Cielo) did not fire as expected when entering
the lane, leaving Navesink River to pick up the pieces. But Deputy Lad (Mecke)
closed with a rush to make it an exciting blanket finish, with Quest Star
hanging around and holding on for the place by a head over the fast-closing
gelding. The latter gave back $7 and $4.40 at 8-1, finishing the $21.30 exacta ($1),
while Deputy Lad paid $5 for the show and completed the $153.40 trifecta ($1), with
Scooter Roach another length back in fourth at the end of the 4-8-6-7 $1
superfecta worth $685.30.

They were followed by European (Ire) (Great
Commotion), post-time favorite Gigli (Brz) (Clackson), Stage Call (Ire)
(Sadler’s Wells) and Art Variety (Brz) (Pleasant Variety).

Navesink River was bred in Kentucky by Hermitage Farm LLC and recorded his
first stakes win in the Pan American. He is the second foal out of the
stakes-winning Easy Goer mare Sheepscot and has an unraced two-year-old
half-sister named A P Easy (A.P. Indy) and a yearling half-brother by Danzig. The $140,000
Keeneland September yearling increased his earnings to $215,645 and now owns a
record of 11-3-1-1.