Month: October 2023

Harrell Ventures' Lost Ark sailed to victory to lead a Todd Pletcher-trained trifecta in Saturday's off-the-turf running of the $500,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational for sophomores at Belmont at the Big A, which was contested as a listed race going at 1 1/4 miles on the main track after it was originally slated as a Grade 3 event 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf.

Lost Ark, a half-brother to the Pletcher-trained reigning Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Nest, notched the second stakes score of his career with an off-the-pace move under Kendrick Carmouche, splashing home three-quarter lengths in front of rallying stablemate Classic Catch.

“He's [Lost Ark] shown a lot of ability on the dirt and I thought Kendrick did a good job of letting him run into that first turn and got a good position on our stablemate's outside shoulder,” said Byron Hughes, Pletcher's Belmont-based assistant. “He was able to kick home and got the job done.”

The son of Violence emerged from the outermost post 5 and kept back as Fearless Soldier broke best of all and drew clear to mark an opening quarter-mile in :23.91 and the half-mile in :48.21 over the sloppy and sealed main track.

Down the backstretch, the Pletcher-trained Classic Catch raced last under Florent Geroux after being squeezed at the start and made a move to split rivals Dataman and Anglophile in attempt of making an outside run at the top pair. Fearless Soldier held command into the turn as Lost Ark ranged up to his outside under steady coaxing from Carmouche.

Fearless Solider clung to a precarious lead along the rail at the top of the stretch as a paddling Lost Ark inched his way up to take charge nearing the sixteenth pole with Classic Catch giving chase down the center of the course to take up second. But there was no catching Lost Ark, who completed the course in 2:03.97 and become the first American-based horse to capture this event in its fourth running.

Classic Catch held place honors by 3 1/4 lengths over Fearless Soldier, who fended off Dataman by a head for show. Anglophile completed the order of finish. Measured Time, Faraday, Webslinger and Mondego were scratched.

Lost Ark wore blinkers for the first time in the afternoon, an equipment change Carmouche said allowed his colt to race comfortably near the front end rather than his usual stalk-and-pounce tactics.

“They put blinkers on him and I thought he should have been forward. They wanted me to put him forward,” Carmouche said. “I was sitting in a perfect spot the whole way around there. It was going to be whoever quickened at the end, and none of them quickened. We just galloped around there. I'm glad it came off the turf. I thought I had a decent shot on the grass, but I had an even bigger shot on the dirt.”

Whisper Hill Farm's Classic Catch, a dark bay son of Classic Empire, was a winner of an off-the-turf allowance going the 10-furlong distance last out on August 9 at Saratoga Race Course. Geroux said the decision to split rivals was necessary after his troubled break.

“The trip was OK. I got squeezed very hard leaving the gate and I think it cost me the race to be honest,” said Geroux. “I thought the fractions were pretty good and we didn't go too slow, but I had to make a move at the three-eighths pole and I think that's probably what I needed for the last eighth of a mile. I was just behind the eight ball from the beginning which is not ideal.”

Bred in Kentucky by Ashview Farm and Colts Neck Stables, Lost Ark, who is out of the A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood, banked $275,000 in victory, rebounded from a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Saranac on September 1 at Saratoga Race Course where he made his turf debut. In addition to the Jockey Club Derby, Lost Ark also boasts a win in last year's Sapling over the Monmouth Park main track. He now boasts a record of 8-4-0-1 with total purse earnings of $538,600 and returned $9.70 for a $2 win ticket.

The post Lost Ark, Half To Champion Nest, Tops Pletcher-Trained Trifecta In Off-The Turf Jockey Club Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Like many North American turf races for fillies and mares, Keeneland's First Lady Stakes has been owned by Chad Brown, the New York native having won each running since 2018. This year's running of the Grade 1, $750,000 turf fixture at one mile was no different as Gina Romantica and jockey Tyler Gaffalione ran down defending champion In Italian in the stretch to win by a neck, giving Brown and owner Peter Brant the First Lady exacta.

For Brown, it was his sixth consecutive First Lady win and seventh overall. No surprise there, since Brown sent out three of the eight starters. Brant was winning for the third year in a row , with Gina Romantica and In Italian both carrying his silks.

What was surprising was Gina Romantica upsetting her stablemate, as In Italian was sent off the 2-5 favorite in defense of her 2022 First Lady title. Gina Romantica, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, went off at 11-1 odds despite having won over the Keeneland turf in last year's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. She was winless in two starts this year, including a runner-up performance last out in the G1 Beverly D Stakes at Colonial Downs.

In Italian led throughout, with Gina Romantica settling into sixth position in the early going. But she outkicked her more accomplished stablemate to win comfortably, the time for the one-mile on firm turf clocked in 1:33.70. Evvie Jets finished third, with Brown's third starter, Whitebeam getting fourth.

The post Longshot Gina Romantica Gives Chad Brown Sixth Consecutive First Lady appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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