Afleet Willy shows versatility winning the Richard W. Small Stakes
Afleet Willy won the $100,000 Richard W. Small Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park by three-quarters of a length in a performance far better than the bare margin of victory.
Typically a front-runner, Afleet Willy was nowhere near the front until the far turn Saturday after breaking terribly and spotting all nine of his rivals a couple lengths. Jockey Jomar Torres made an early first move, letting Afleet Willy range up into contention while three and four paths wide around the far turn, and Afleet Willy somehow sustained his run, making the lead in upper stretch and holding at bay Discreet Lover, the horse he’d passed to make the lead.
“I just tried to get him to relax,” Torres said. “He’s a nice horse and he doesn’t have to go to the lead. I sat behind horses, and at the three-eighths pole I made a move and he responded pretty good. He ran big today.”
Discreet Lover, a 12-1 shot, was easily second best as the rest of the field struggled. Just Call Kenny was spinning his wheels a quarter-mile out but still slogged along for third, four lengths out of second and neck better than Watershed. In fifth came Page McKenney, who never really got involved while seeking his second win in the Small.
Afleet Willy ran 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.86 and paid $8.60 to win. A 4-year-old gelding trained by Claudio Gonzalez for BB Horses, Afleet Willy was running in starter-allowance races a year ago but has hit a new peak this season. A son of Wilburn and Afleet Frio, by Afleet Alex, Afleet Willy won his second straight stakes and is 4-1-0 from seven starts this year. The Small was his 10th career win.
A Different Style cruises in James F. Lewis
A Different Style, fresh off a second-start Parx Racing maiden win, went wire to wire in the $100,000 James F. Lewis Stakes, beating odds-on Kowboy Karma in the six-furlong race for 2-year-olds.
Trained by John Servis for D J Stable and ridden by John Bisono, A Different Style broke from the rail in his debut and finished second before romping in an Oct. 23 maiden by more than six lengths. In the Lewis, A Different Style made a clear early lead under Bisono through a moderate opening quarter-mile in 23.11 seconds, got company from Blame It On Honey before passing the half in 46.60, and after opening daylight again had little trouble repelling Kowboy Karma, who fell two lengths short of the winner while three-quarters in front of third-place Barry Lee.
A Different Style went his last eighth-mile in a snappy 11.92 seconds and was timed in a quick 1:10.16 for six furlongs on the fast main track.
“I saw he took an easy lead, so I let him enjoy himself out there,” said Bisono. “When it came time to run, he ran.”
A Different Style, purchased at a 2-year-olds in training sale for $160,000, is by The Factor out of Right to Rule, by Five Star Day.
Kowboy Karma was held up in last down the backstretch, and if that trip was engineered by design, it turned deleterious when the race shape went slow-early, fast-late. Kowboy Karma got involved while coming widest through the homestretch, but the winner was finishing too fast himself to be caught.