Victory Racing Partners' More Than Looks made the grade with a last-to-first score under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in Friday's Grade 3, $250,000 Manila, a one-mile Widener turf test for sophomores, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Trained by Cherie DeVaux, the More Than Ready colt closed to win a paceless allowance test last out traveling 1 1/16-miles over firm footing on June 17 at Ellis Park. There was plenty of pace on offer Friday as More Than Looks, who broke a step slow, found his best stride late to make his stakes debut a winning one.
“We have a really nice one here,” said Anthony Bartolo, managing partner of Victory Racing Partners. “We felt going into this race that it was a tough group, but if we had fair fractions to run into, he could run them down. He did a really good job with that and when it [the half-mile] came up in 45 and change, I knew he was going to be coming. It was wonderful. Johnny did a great job.
“This is our first stakes win, let alone graded win, so it's a real treat,” Bartolo added. “We've had a great group of horses along the way and we just never got to win a bigger one like this. Cherie DeVaux does a fantastic job and I'm thrilled with what she's done with this horse.”
Talk of the Nation broke alertly under the spring/summer meet's leading rider Jose Ortiz and set a pressured pace, marking off splits of 22.65 seconds and 45.53 over the firm going with graded-stakes winner Nagirroc on his flank.
Talk of the Nation led the field to the turn with Nagirroc pestering and multiple graded-stakes winner Major Dude saving ground in third as a hard-to-handle Belouni advanced outside of rivals. Talk of the Nation and Nagirroc continued their battle through the turn and deep into the stretch run with neither foe backing off from the challenge, but More Than Looks, who saved ground through the turn and angled outside of Major Dude at the top of the lane, was in full flight. He swooped outside the frontrunning duo in the final sixteenth and secured the 1 1/2-length win in a final time of 1:33.19.
Talk of the Nation won the place battle by a neck over Nagirroc with Major Dude, Dreaming of Kona, Belouni and Amstrong rounding out the order of finish. Activist Investing was scratched.
Velazquez said he was prepared for a potentially tough break from the gate.
“Cherie told me he could be difficult and not to push him or touch him. I thought he would have broke a little better, but it didn't really matter today,” Velazquez said. “He got into a good rhythm by the time we got to the five-eighths pole. I was pretty confident then. The way he broke I was a little concerned because that's a lot to make up, but by the time he caught up to them, I was a little more at ease that he was in a good place.”
More Than Looks graduated at second asking on March 31 over the Gulfstream Park synthetic ahead of a rallying runner-up effort in a one-mile Keeneland turf allowance captured by Turf King, who won the Grade 3 Marine last weekend at Woodbine Racetrack.
“The race at Keeneland, he was way wide again and got nipped at the wire,” Bartolo said. “Then he won at Ellis coming from last, so we felt he belonged in this race if we gave him the opportunity. Now I feel we belong.”
Bartolo said More Than Looks will point to the Grade 2, $500,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on August 4 at Saratoga Race Course where he could face another DeVaux trainee in recent Belmont maiden winner Northern Invader.
“Believe it or not, Cherie pointed to that race a ways out, so this is the path we needed to take,” Bartolo noted. “That being said, he's done everything to show he belongs there, so now I'd say if he comes back alright, that's the spot we'd shoot for next.”
The Graham Motion-trained Nagirroc captured the Grade 3 Futurity in October at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in November at Keeneland. He was a game second in the Grade 3 Transylvania in April at Keeneland to kick off his sophomore season and entered from a 3 1/4-length score in the one-mile James W. Murphy on May 20 at Pimlico Race Course.
Ortiz, who won four races on Friday's card to establish a 55-53 lead over his brother Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the spring/summer meet standings, said he was pleased with the effort from Nagirroc.
“The speed on the track has been holding up nicely, so we felt like if he jumped well, we would try and go to the front,” Ortiz said. “He ran a great race, he was just a little unfortunate to get beat late. He dug in and ran too good to lose. But that's the game. In these types of races, there's always a lot of good horses. He got beat by another good horse. I'm content with his effort.”
More Than Looks is out of the stakes-winning Harlan's Holiday mare Ladies' Privilege, who is a full-sister to multiple graded-stakes winner Takeover Target – winner of the 2015 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. His third dam, Critical Crew, produced multiple Grade 1-winning New York-bred Critical Eye.
Bred in Kentucky by Hinkle Farms, More Than Looks banked $137,500 in victory while improving his record to 5-3-1-0. He returned $16.40 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont Park with a 12-race card featuring the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational in Race 10; the Grade 1, $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational in Race 8; the Grade 2, $350,000 Suburban in Race 5; and the Grade 3, $175,000 Victory Ride in Race 11. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.
America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule/.
NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.
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