Aqueduct notes: Violette ponders what’s next for Damon Runyon winner Samraat

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Samraat, dominant winner of Wednesday’s $100,000 Damon Runyon Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct, will likely make his next start against open company, but trainer Rick Violette isn’t sure exactly when and where that will happen.

Samraat, a New York-bred son of Noble Causeway, improved his record to 3 for 3 with a front-running, 16 3/4-length victory in the Damon Runyon and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance. Violette all but ruled out wheeling him back in the Grade 2 Jerome here on Jan. 4, but mentioned the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers here on Feb. 1 as a possibility as well as races out of town.

“He’s certainly done enough that you can dip your toe into the open ocean and see if we fit there,” Violette said Thursday at Aqueduct. “Looks like he came out of it good; he cooled out great yesterday, was good this morning. We’ll let him cool his heels for a few days, talk it over with Mr. [Len] Riggio and Lincoln Collins, his racing manager, do what’s best for the horse, and hope that rewards us.”

Violette said he hasn’t decided whether to leave Samraat in New York to train or take him to Palm Meadows in south Florida where he also has horses stabled. If he takes him to Florida, the Grade 2, $400,000 Holy Bull on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park could become an option but Violette is hoping to have Financial Mogul ready for that race.

Though Samraat has beaten only New York-breds, Violette isn’t discounting the colt for Kentucky Derby consideration.
“Listen, he’s 3 for 3, regardless of the company, a very small percentage of horses do that,” Violette said.

Violette said there were a lot of things that he liked from Samraat’s performance on Wednesday. The horse behaved well in the paddock, was not rank in the early stages of the race even with horses prompting him, and he took off when asked by the rider, Jose Ortiz.
“All the things you’re looking for in good horses he displayed yesterday,” Violette said.

Meanwhile, Violette said that Financial Mogul, runner-up to Cairo Prince in the Grade 2 Nashua here on Nov. 3, has recently resumed training at Palm Meadows and is being targeted for the Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles.

Violette said he skipped the Remsen with Financial Mogul because the colt had already raced four times.

“If you didn’t give him a break then giving him a break after the Remsen shortens your break significantly,” Violette said.

Pure Sensation tops Don Rickles

Trainer Christophe Clement’s horses are usually enjoying the warm climate of south Florida by now, but Pure Sensation has one more race to run before earning a vacation.

The speedy Pure Sensation tops a field of six 2-year-olds entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Don Rickles Stakes at six furlongs. After finishing second in his first two starts at Saratoga, Pure Sensation won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Belmont on Oct. 18. In his most recent start, he was beaten a neck by Jessethemarine in the James F. Lewis III Stakes at Laurel Park on Nov. 16.

The instructions for jockey Junior Alvarado will be simple: Go to the front and improve your position.

“He’s fast coming out of the gate, he’s fast in the middle of the race, he’s fast altogether,” Clement said by phone from Florida. “He’s never run a bad race. He got beat by two stakes horses at Saratoga. He will run in this race and then get a break in Ocala.

The Don Rickles drew Maryland shipper Extrasexyhippzster, fourth in the mud in a sprint stakes at Laurel on Dec. 7, and Oliver Zip, a New York-based horse who went to Laurel to win in his debut in a $40,000 maiden claiming race for trainer Kelly Breen. Sing the Dream, a New York-bred stakes winner at Finger Lakes, Otoy, and Pin and Win complete the field.

Driven by Solar first casualty of meet

The 7-year-old Driven by Solar became the first casualty of the inner-track meeting when he suffered a fractured left foreleg during the running of Wednesday’s eighth race and had to be euthanized on the track.

Driven by Solar, a New York-bred son of Freud, was making his 35th career start in that allowance race. A horse that had been claimed eight times, Driven by Solar was racing for trainer John Toscano Jr. and owner Joseph Forrest.

Driven by Solar had a record of 10-6-5 from 35 starts and earned $370,869.