Archidust surges at wire to win Get Serious Stakes
Archidust continued a seriously successful summer for his new barn, making a late surge for a head victory in the $75,000 Get Serious Stakes for turf sprinters Sunday at Monmouth Park.
Archidust ($3.80), a 4-year-old Verrazano colt who runs for Crawford Farms Racing, has now won half his 14 lifetime starts. He had a successful season in 2019, winning the My Frenchman Stakes at Monmouth, the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga, and the OBS Sprint Stakes in Florida while trained by Jorge Navarro. He opened the season with a close third-place finish in the Silks Run Stakes on March 7 at Gulfstream for the Navarro barn, beaten just two necks. Two days later, on March 9, Navarro was arrested as federal prosecutors unsealed indictments accusing 27 individuals, including him, of administering illegal medications to racehorses.
Navarro's horses were sent to other trainers, with Archidust heading to Steve Asmussen. The colt has been based at Belmont Park for Asmussen, returning to the work tab in late May. He debuted for the outfit with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Wolf Hill Stakes on July 18 at Monmouth and scored his second consecutive win at the track Sunday in the Get Serious.
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Archidust, who was sent away favored in the Get Serious, saved ground early under Hector Diaz Jr. He swung four wide at the quarter pole to make his run, but was still fourth, about two lengths back. Meanwhile, Completed Pass had assumed the lead from fading front-runner Satellite Storm, with Spikes Shirl, coming off consecutive victories in claiming races, rallying gamely between horses. In the final yards, Archidust surged to edge Spikes Shirl by a head for the victory, with Completed Pass another head back in third.
"He has tactical speed to be right there early and he has a gear at the end," Diaz, who also rode Archidust in the Wolf Hill, told Monmouth publicity. "When you ask him, he responds. . . . I was able to save a little ground early because I knew as soon as I switched him to the outside he was going to go. The other two horses hung in there gamely."
The final time for the 5 1/2 furlongs on turf rated firm was 1:03.17.