Public Sector (GB) emerged victorious from a relaxed rail trip in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on Friday, Aug. 6. Jockey Flavien Prat got the Chad Brown favorite away from the gate well and seemed pointed for an early lead, but settled in along the rail and let Next and Wolfie's Dynaghost dictate the early pace for much of the one-mile contest on the inner turf. As the field began bunching up around the final turn, Public Sector seemed initially boxed in but found a gap along the rail and burst through, holding off a late challenge from Annex.
There was a stewards' inquiry into the stretch run, where Annex crossed over from the outside of rival Original under right handed urging from jockey Junior Alvarado. Original subsequently took a serious bobble and seemed to trip as though he caught the heels of Annex, and jockey Luis Saez pulled Original up before the finish line. Original was unsaddled and walked off the track alongside his groom, under his own power. There was no change to the order of finish as the result of the inquiry.
Annex was left up as second, with In Effect third and Next fourth. The final time for the mile was 1:35.03, with fractional times of 1:11.37, :47.56, and :23.91.
As the 4-5 favorite, Public Sector paid $3.80, $2.50, and $2.10.
Public Sector came to the race off a second-place finish in the Manila Stakes at Belmont (where he was second behind Original), and was last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner. Klaravich Stables owns the 3-year-old son of Kingman (GB) and Montjeu (IRE) mare Parle Moi (IRE). Public Sector was bred in Great Britain by The Kathryn Stud. The colt was a $217,822 purchase by Klaravich from the Tattersalls October Sale, where he was consigned by Clearwater Stud.
See the full chart here.
G2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Quotes, courtesy NYRA Press Office
Chad Brown, winning trainer of Public Sector (No. 2, $3.80*): “Our plan was to leave out of there with intention. It looked like there was a lot of speed on paper but make them go, get our spot and if they're going to go, go. If not, we'll be there. As it turned out, they actually weren't going. The 47 and 3 [half-mile] is solid but it's been dry here and in a graded race at Saratoga, that's not that fast for these horses. Flavien [Prat] does many things wonderfully and that was one of them. He gives you a chance to win by adapting to the pace right away. If you give him the right horse, he's going to deliver for you.”
On winning for Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables: “We've become very close friends and he's such a loyal supporter of our stable and he provides us with these wonderful horses like you saw today with Public Sector. He's a real sportsman and always does the right thing by the horse and he gets rewarded because of that.”
Flavien Prat, winning jockey aboard Public Sector (No. 2): “The first time I rode him, I was really close to the pace and he won a nice race [on June 4 at Belmont Park]. Last time, I think it was just a slow pace. I got stuck behind horses. He couldn't really bring me anywhere around the turn and I had to make up a lot of ground on the slow pace [second in the Manilla on July 4 at Belmont]. Today, we had a good draw and he broke well and put me in the race. The pace was a bit stronger and it worked out well.
“I thought I was going to be able to go around the leader, but then I saw the leader came out and I dropped in and had room.
“We were pretty much making the move together but when I really asked him to make the move, he responded well.”
Junior Alvarado, jockey aboard runner-up Annex (No. 1): “I was moving with Luis Saez [aboard No. 6, Original] and we both made the run. At the time, I was moving more forward than him and I felt him bump me on my rear end. I knew I was still straight in my path. After that, when he was out of there, I started coming again. My horse put in a good run today and I was happy with him.
“It may have cost me a few lengths but I didn't have much room on the inside. The winner had the trip and I really didn't have another way to go but just move outside.”
Luis Saez, rider aboard Original (No. 6) who did not finish the race: “The horse was OK. He just clipped heels.”
The post Breeders’ Cup Winner Public Sector Finds Rail Spot To Prevail In Grade 2 Hall Of Fame Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
