Aggressive tactics pay off for Water's Edge in Haynesfield Stakes
After exercising patience with Water’s Edge to this point in the colt’s career, trainer David Donk opted to get a little aggressive, eschewing an open-level allowance race for Sunday’s $100,000 Haynesfield Stakes.
That aggressive move by Donk combined with the equally aggressive handling by jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. paid off handsomely as Water’s Edge, in his stakes debut, fended off challenges from stakes winners Lobsta, Chestertown and Our Last Buck to win the Haynesfield by 4 1/4 lengths at Aqueduct.
Chestertown finished second, 1 1/2 lengths in front of Our Last Buck. Lobsta, the 9-5 favorite, retreated to fourth followed by My Boy Tate and Brew Pub.
The victory was the fourth from eight starts for Water’s Edge, a 4-year-old son of Candy Ride owned and bred by John and Sandy Crowe’s Empire Equines. Donk said the Crowes still own the mare and have a sister to Water’s Edge.
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“I didn’t have to run here,” Donk said after the race. “His last two races were very good, he trained very well up to this, thought he deserved the opportunity to see where we stand with him. I like where I stand with him.”
Donk felt the best chance for Water’s Edge to be successful was to be involved early on. After bumping with Brew Pub to his inside, Vargas hustled Water’s Edge to the front and maintained a half-length advantage over Lobsta and then Chestertown through a quarter in 23.35 seconds and a half-mile in 46.01.
Approaching the top of the stretch, Our Last Buck joined the fray four wide. Lobsta retreated, but Chestertown and Our Last Buck kept after him. But when Water’s Edge switched to his right lead inside the three-sixteenths pole he left his opponents behind.
“He was waiting on them,” Vargas said. “He was getting for them and when they came up, he took off again.”
Water’s Edge covered the mile in 1:36.93 and returned $10.20 as the fourth choice.
“I think he’s a horse that’s very forward,” Donk said. “The plan was to be aggressive. The question was how aggressive was [Javier] Castellano going to be on his horse [Lobsta]. He’s a really game horse and he was second-time blinkers. He showed us last time if he feels a horse coming to him, he’s going to go on. That’s why we put blinkers on because the time before he got to idling and didn’t want to go by. The blinkers made a big difference.”
Donk said he didn’t have a next race picked out. It just won’t be the next first-level open allowance race.