Calder: Kaplan wins two on Summit of Speed Preview card

Trainer Bill Kaplan was the star of Calder’s Summit of Speed Preview Day program on Saturday, winning two of the four stakes on the card with longshots Another Romance and Wild Bout Tiffany. The Summit of Speed will be run on July 7.

Another Romance ($33), a 3-year-old daughter of Saint Anddan, rallied from near the rear of the pack under jockey Luca Panici to run down Citizen Advocate in the final strides to register a neck victory in the $75,000 Leave Me Alone. Citizen Advocate had opened a seemingly insurmountable advantage at midstretch but could not withstand the winner’s final surge.

My Due Process, the 8-5 favorite, finished eighth after showing brief speed. The Leave Me Alone is a prep for the Grade 3 Azalea.

Wild Bout Tiffany led throughout and outlasted Flying Trip to register a neck victory under jockey Manny Cruz in the $75,000 U Can Do It. Wild Bout Tiffany was filling in for her Eclipse Award-winning stablemate Musical Romance, who was also nominated to the U Can Do It. She returned $29.

Tamarind Hall, the 8-5 choice, checked home a tiring fifth.

The U Can Do It is a prep for Calder’s only Grade 1 event, the Princess Rooney Handicap.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever done that, won two stakes in one day,” said Kaplan. “I knew there would be a fast pace for Another Romance and I just told Luca to lay back and pick up as many horses as he can, and it turned out to be a suicidal pace and he picked them all up. It was a last-minute decision to even run the other filly and she just ran her eyeballs out.” 
   
Cruz also became a two-time stakes winner on Saturday after guiding Field Commision ($39) to a surprising 3 1/4-length victory over Bull Dozer in the $75,000 Ponche, which serves as a prep for the Win and You’re In Grade 2 Smile Handicap.  Apriority finished sixth as the even-money favorite.

The victory made Field Commission, who is trained by Curtis Garrison, a millionaire, pushing his lifetime earnings to $1,026,000.

Fort Loudon proved a prompt and impressive favorite in the $75,000 Unbridled, drawing away from Bahamian Squall through the stretch to register an easy 3 3/4-length victory in a race that scratched down to only five starters. Fernando Jara rode Fort Loudon ($3.40) for trainer Stanley Gold.

“He’s still not as mature as he’s going to be,” said Gold. “Right now I see him still gaining weight, getting bigger and doing everything right, so hopefully we’ll go on and have a big second half of the year.”

Fort Loudon figures to be among the favorites in the Grade 2 Carry Back on July 7.