Lael Stables' homebred Arrest Me Red, a 3-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt, bested his elders with a gate-to-wire score in Saturday's Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at six furlongs over the firm inner turf.
With Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for trainer Wesley Ward, Arrest Me Red set splits of 22.33 seconds and 45.75 en route to a one-length win in a final time of 1:07.86.
Arrest Me Red made his first four starts for trainer Arnaud Delacour, including a score in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach in November on the Big A turf.
Transferred to Ward's care at Keeneland for a sophomore campaign, the sizable colt breezed six times over the main track before the conditioner shipped him to Saratoga where he trained forwardly on the Oklahoma training turf.
Arrest Me Red made his seasonal debut with a neck score in the Mahony at 5 1/2-furlongs on the Saratoga turf.
“He's a beautiful horse. We got him here at Keeneland and he had several workouts but wasn't very impressive at all,” Ward said. “He was getting outworked and for a big, sturdy bugger you'd expect a lot more because he's a sturdy and imposing-type horse. He's like a big tank. I put him with just average horses and they bested him in the mornings.
“We got him up to Saratoga on the turf and away he went,” Ward continued. “There's horses-for-courses and horses-for-surfaces and this guy is a grass specialist.”
Ward said he was pleased with Saturday's effort and that Arrest Me Red will now point to the G1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, a five-furlong test on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
“It's nice when a plan comes through,” Ward said. “He came out of the race great and scoped clean, so off we go.”
Ward is likely to have a big presence in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with Golden Pal, Campanelle and Kimari all under consideration.
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