American Power makes Toboggan third win in row

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Pete’s Play Call and Share the Ride were both former claimers who became stakes winners. On Saturday, American Power joined that fraternity, beating, among others, those two rivals in the Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct.

Put into the race from the start under Kendrick Carmouche, American Power stalked the pacesetting Pete’s Play Call through modest fractions of 24.08 seconds for the quarter and 48.11 for the half-mile. The two ran side by side from the quarter pole to the sixteenth pole before American Power edged clear to win by a half-length. Pete’s Play Call, the Jan. 2 Gravesend winner, was second by 2 3/4 lengths over Share the Ride, the Nov. 29 Grade 3 Fall Highweight winner.

Drafted finished fourth, followed by Stan the Man.

The win gave trainer Rob Atras his first graded stakes victory in his fourth attempt. Atras claimed American Power for $40,000 last July 29 for owners Sanford and Irwin Goldfarb. American Power also runs for the Estate of Ira Davis.

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“I got to give full credit to Sandy Goldfarb, he picked him out,” Atras said. “He had a bit of a layoff and a couple of races that were suspect, but Sandy wanted to take a shot on him.”

After American Power ran fifth in his first start for him, Atras removed the blinkers from American Power’s equipment. Even without that equipment, American Power got into his races earlier and that style has now produced three consecutive victories.

“It’s like he got his confidence back,” Atras said. “He’s breaking sharp, he’s right in the race right away. I think it makes a difference, too, the way Kendrick rides him.”

Carmouche said he thought he’d be tracking two horses, but Manny Franco didn’t force the issue on favored Share the Ride, electing to sit third, behind Pete’s Play Call and American Power.

“I thought Manny would go a little bit but I had him in a position where he had to take back,” Carmouche said. “I let the one horse go as easy as I can. When I got to the three-eighths pole I had so much horse I just made it a race home.”

American Power, a 6-year-old son of Power Broker, covered the seven furlongs in 1:24.98 and returned $9.50 as the fourth choice in the field of five.

Jorge Vargas Jr., on Pete’s Play Call, said his horse was just “second-best.”

Franco said he rode Share the Ride to instructions from trainer Antonio Arriaga.

“The trainer wanted me to sit third, so that’s what I did,” Franco said. “It didn’t work out.”