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You Must Chill Victorious In Alphabet Soup At Parx, Caps Three-Win Day For Connections

Morris Kernan Jr., Yo Berb's Racing, and Jagger Inc.'s You Must Chill closed the Pennsylvania Derby day by giving his connections their third win on the undercard in the $200,000 Alphabet Soup Stakes for state-breds at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.

You Must Chill stayed within two lengths of the pacesetter Saratoga Jack before jockey Frankie Pennington angled the 5-year-old gelding to the outside at the top of the stretch, then made a strong run past Wait for It for the 1 ½-length victory while finishing the 1 1/16 mile race in 1:47.37 over a good turf course.

“He broke good and he put me in a forward position,” Pennington said. “He was dragging me the whole way. At the top of the stretch, it was a waiting game. Once I got out, he exploded.”

This was the first stakes victory for You Must Chill, who has won 4-for-5 races – both on dirt and turf at various distances – since Jamie Ness started training him.

“We always thought he was a grass horse,” Ness said. “Obviously, he had a couple of good races on the dirt. Finally, we finally got him on the grass. We had to go to Penn [National] to do it. He really ran on a bad turf course, but we knew he could handle the turf course.”

Along with You Must Chill, Ness, Pennington, and the partnership won a starter allowance with Sevier and the Greenwood Cup with Magic Michael as part of the Pennsylvania Derby undercard.

“All three wins were with all of my partners,” Ness said. “These are all local guys and this was their day. I am really happy for them.”

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Pocket Square’s Athenia Win Gives Brown 100th Graded Stakes Victory At Belmont Park

Juddmonte homebred Pocket Square, expertly handled by Irad Ortiz, Jr., rallied to a fashionable victory over stablemate Miss Teheran in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 3 Athenia, a nine-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The victory provided four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown with his 100th graded stakes win at Belmont Park, according to records provided by Equibase.

“What an achievement for my team, my owners, and my horses throughout the years that have run so hard,” Brown said. “A big thank you to NYRA for providing me and my horses such great facilities to train and race on through the years. They have been instrumental in developing my business.”

A 4-year-old Night of Thunder chestnut, Pocket Square entered from a 4 1/4-length optional-claiming win traveling nine furlongs on the Saratoga Race Course turf on August 25.

Pocket Square rated comfortably outside rivals in fourth as Stand for the Flag set splits of :25.30, :51.41, and 1:16.71 on the good turf.

Lake Lucerne pressed the pacesetter through the final turn with Made In Italy advancing up the rail and Pocket Square angling outside for the stretch run. But Pocket Square, always moving like a winner, took over the lead from Lake Lucerne at the stretch call and secured a 2 1/2-length win in a final time of 1:51.19.

Pocket Square, sixth in her lone sophomore start in the Group 3 Musidora at York Racecourse in England, was a Group 3 winner as a juvenile in France for her former conditioner Roger Charlton. She notched a debut win for Brown in a 1 1/16-mile allowance tilt at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., in April and followed with back-to-back fifth-place finishes in Grade 1 company in the one-mile Longines Just a Game in June at Belmont and the nine-furlong Diana in August at Saratoga.

Brown said he may have moved Pocket Square into Grade 1 company too quickly.

“She had that explosive run at Keeneland and I've done that before, where I run them in a race like the Just a Game off an effort like that and won,” Brown said. “When it works out well, you feel like a hero. When it doesn't work out, you have to go back to the drawing board, which I had to do. I probably should have brought her along just a little bit slower after that Keeneland race and not throw her in the deep end of the pool, but that's past us now and we have her back on track with a couple of really nice wins.”

The victory provided Ortiz, Jr. with his fourth win on the card following a trio of scores for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher with Life Is Good in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap in Race 4; impressive 2-year-old filly maiden winner Nest in Race 1; and a romping maiden win in Race 6 aboard juvenile New York-bred colt Overstep in Race 6.

“She did everything right,” Ortiz, Jr. said of Pocket Square. “She broke and relaxed. She waited on me to call on her to run and when I asked her, she took off. She looked like much the best.

“I only used the stick a couple of times and that was it,” he added. “She was moving comfortably so I didn't need to do much.”

Miss Teheran, with Manny Franco up, rallied outside rivals to secure the exacta by one length over Lake Lucerne. Made In Italy, and Stand for the Flag completed the order of finish. Main-track-only entrant Spice Is Nice was scratched and will instead target the $250,000 Grade 2 Beldame here on October 10.

“She was moving well and I had a good trip,” said Franco of Miss Teheran, who was pulled up in the gallop out and provided a precautionary ride home in the equine ambulance. “She bled [past the wire], which is the only excuse I can give. She ran a good race.”

Brown, a 14-time leading trainer at Belmont, posted his first graded win at Belmont in the 2008 Miss Grillo [a Grade 3 in that year] with Karen Woods' Maram. Nearly a third of Brown's graded stakes coups at Belmont have come at Grade 1 level, including six victories in the Manhattan, five Flower Bowl wins, and four straight Just a Game triumphs [2017-20].

Bred in Great Britain by her owner, Pocket Square banked $110.000 in victory while improving her record to 9-5-0-1. She returned $2.90 for a $2 win wager.

Live racing returns Sunday at Belmont Park with a 10-race card featuring the $150,000 Bertram F. Bongard for New York-bred juvenile fillies at seven furlongs [Race 4, 2:36] and the Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs [Race 9, 5:16]. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Octane Overpowers In Reality Stakes Field At Gulfstream

Arindel's Octane overpowered his opposition at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., Saturday with a gutsy front-running victory in the $400,000 In Reality, the open-division finale of the 2021 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes.

The In Reality, a 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions, co-headlined Saturday's 12-race program with the $400,000 My Dear Girl, the 1 1/16-mile finale for Florida-sired 2-year-old fillies.

Coming off a front-running score in the $200,000 Affirmed, the seven-furlong second leg of the lucrative series for Florida-sired juveniles, Octane offered a repeat performance while carrying his natural speed around two turns for the first time.

The homebred son of Brethren broke alertly from his No. 7 post position to take the lead on the first turn and show the way along the backstretch, where he came under strong pressure to his outside by Cattin. Octane put away Cattin on the far turn, where Cajun's Magic, the Affirmed runner-up, launched his bid after saving ground behind the pacesetters. The winner of the first leg of the FSS Series, the $100,000 Dr. Fager, kicked in through the stretch but was no match for Octane, the even-money favorite who scored by 1 ¾ lengths to win his third straight race since finishing second in his career debut.

The Carlos David-trained Octane ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.97 under Emisael Jaramillo. Cajun's Magic, who was ridden by Jesus Rios, finished 6 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Cattin.

“I have plenty of confidence in Jaramillo. He's a great rider. He's one of the top jocks here in the summer and in the winter, as well. The plan was, obviously, he's got speed, so we don't want to take that away from him. Just break good, sit outside a little bit and whenever he wants to make the lead, let him do it and see where he goes,” David said. “He's got that speed and every time you have a horse that goes to the lead [distance] is always a question. I'm just glad he was able to do it. He's got a lot of talent.”

Octane exceeded the early expectations of Arindel stable manager Brian Cohen with his impressive two-turn debut.

“It's great. Carlos has done a great job. Back before we sent him to Carlos, he worked one time on the farm super-fast. I wanted to send him a good one. He's a little horse and Carlos does great with these speed horses,” Cohen said. “I never thought that he'd be doing the mile and a sixteenth. He just gets out there and doesn't stop. We're so happy. We have the perfect rider for him. It was just a great effort and a great effort by those guys.”

By passing the two-turn test in the In Reality, his connections have reason to at least take a look at the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Nov. 5.

“We'll see how the numbers come back and we'll talk to Carlos and see how we fit,” Cohen said. “No rush, but we'll make a decision in the next week or so.”

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Last Leaf Victorious In Hollywood Beach, Pro Quality Best In Wildcat Heir At Gulfstream

Trainer Ron Spatz admits he didn't know how Monarch Stables Inc's 2-year-old filly Last Leaf would handle the turf in Saturday's $75,000 Hollywood Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

“My legs are tired. I've been doing a rain dance for three days,” said Spatz, whose filly won twice on the main track before facing colts and geldings in the Hollywood Beach. “They tell me top and bottom is good for [turf], but she has small feet so I really didn't know.”

Any doubts Spatz might have had were erased when Last Leaf drove past a game Nerve in the final sixteenth to win the Hollywood Beach by a head. Barone Cesco was a fast-closing third, another head behind Nerve.

A daughter of Not This Time who has now won three of five starts, Last Leaf covered a 'good' five-furlong course in :57.46 after chasing Nerve past fractions of :22.32 and :45.40. The filly has won at 5 ½ furlongs on a fast track, six furlongs on a sloppy track, and on the turf.

“I told [Monarch Stables Inc.] 'You have an all-terrain vehicle now. That's a good thing,” Spatz said.

In the $125,000 Wildcat Heir, Rodney Lundock's Pro Quality, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Ralph Catanese and ridden by Luca Panici, drove past Shivaree inside the final sixteenth pole to win by lengths

Pro Quality, a son of Exclusive Quality, came into the Wildcat Heir off third-place finishes in the City of Dania and Benny The Bull. Panici raced fourth down the backstretch past fractions of :23.91 and :46.91 before Panici moved Pro Quality three-wide entering the stretch and driving to the finish.

Pro Quality has won four races and has placed first, second or third in 11 of his 13 starts.

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