Sonata Stable's Arzak, ridden by Joel Rosario, benefited from a hot pace in Saturday's Grade 2, $350,000 Woodford Stakes presented by FanDuel, roaring down the stretch to pass European invader Live In The Dream inside the furlong pole to win going away by two lengths.
The 5-year-old son of Not This Time, trained by Michael Trombetta out of the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, covered five furlongs on firm turf in :55.59. He paid $25.66 to win.
Our Shot, co-favorite at 7-2 with Live In The Dream, won a photo for second over Beer Can Man, the two racing as a team through the stretch. Live In The Dream held fourth – another 1 1/4 lengths back – after setting sizzling fractions of :20.97 for the opening quarter mile and :43.67 for the half. The Irish-bred Live In The Dream came to Keeneland off a one-length win in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York in England on Aug. 25 and has won six of 18 career starts.
Live In the Dream finished a nose ahead of Bad Beat Brian, who was a nose in front of Let My People Go, who nosed out Olympic Runner for sixth. Coppola, Kaufymaker, Kavod, Eye Witness, and Foxtrotanna completed the order of finish.
The win was similar to Arzak's most recent start, an Aug. 23 allowance/optional claimer at Saratoga, in which he got up to win by a head over Coppola. In that race and in the Woodford, Arzak settled into fifth while chasing fast fractions and kicked into gear in the stretch.
In Saturday's Woodford, Rosario saved ground while in fifth – several lengths behind Live In The Dream, who was under some pressure from Foxtrotanna in the run down the backstretch. Rosario swung Arzak wide into the stretch and took dead aim on Live In The Dream, who still had a clear lead with a furlong to run.
Arzak drifted in, engaged Live In The Dream, and put that rival away in the final sixteenth.
“It looked like (they were going very fast up front),” said Rosario. “(Arzak) also has a little speed. On the backside I was farther back than I wanted to be, but it looked like they were really putting a good pace in front of him so I just stayed there and then kicked him on to finish. It was very easy for him (after he kicked into high gear coming down the stretch). I rode him before, and he always tries really, really hard. He's a good horse.”
The Woodford was Arzak's seventh win from 23 career starts and second graded stakes win, the other coming in the G3 Jacques Cartier Stakes over the all-weather track at Woodbine.
Bred in Kentucky by John C. Oxley, Arzak was produced from the Tapit mare, Delightful Melody. He was purchased by Marc Tacher, who races in the name of Sonata Stable, for $575,000 at the 2020 OBS April Sale of 2-year-olds in training.
Adam West, trainer of Live In The Dream, wasn't deterred by his horse's defeat. “Incredibly fast. Very strong headwind today,” West said. “For me anyway, that (performance) would paint the target on him. When we get to Santa Anita (for the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint), (he's) going to be hard to catch. We trained at Keeneland, and I'm very appreciative of (the experience). Everyone's been fantastic, and that's (race from Live In The Dream is) kind of exactly what I wanted to see.”
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