Aug Lutes finds turf to her liking in Glen Cove Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. - Aug Lutes, pinched back at the break, rallied from next-to-last in a field of 11 to win Friday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Glen Cove Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 1 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park.
Bay Storm, winner of the Christiecat Stakes here on Sept. 17, made the lead approaching the quarter pole and held second by a neck over Keeper of Time.
The win was the fourth from five career starts for Aug Lutes, a daughter of Midnight Lute trained by Michael Trombetta for Commonwealth New Era Racing. Aug Lutes had made all four of her previous starts on synthetic surfaces, but made the transition to turf in the seven-furlong Glen Cove.
“This opens up a lot of doors,” Trombetta said. “The next question is how far does she want to go? We’ll have to explore all of that as we go along.”
Breaking from post 6 under Jose Lezcano, Aug Lutes got bumped by Invincible Gal and was steadied back to 10th. She was 11 lengths off the pace after a half-mile, with Caldee on the lead chased by Bay Storm.
Aug Lutes advanced three to four wide down the backstretch and around the turn, came five to six wide in the stretch, and unleashed a strong kick that carried her to victory.
“She broke a little slow and everybody came over and I gave her a chance to get on her feet, and at the half-mile I started to ask her,” Lezcano said. “I thought I’d be kind of in the middle of the pack, but I let her do what she wanted to, and when I asked her she gave me the kick I needed to win the race.”
Aug Lutes covered the seven furlongs in a posted time of 1:20.23 over a firm turf course and returned $41.20.
“She had only run four times and the first two I’m not sure she had it all figured out,” Trombetta said. “This year, these races get so much tougher so much quicker. She exceeded everyone’s expectations. I think this was a pretty good race. There were some pretty nice horses in there.”
Bay Storm, ridden by Luis Saez, was sent off the 3-2 favorite based on her three-length victory in the Christiecat. Her trainer, Jonathan Thomas, felt she ran her race and that perhaps she’s more of a six-furlong specialist.
“Luis rode her well, it just looked like she was giving it up a little bit late,” Thomas said.
Bay Storm held second over Keeper of Time, who was followed by Invincible Gal, Alwayz Late, Miss Dracarys, Adelaide Miss, Por Que No, Honey Pants, Caldee and Orbs Baby Girl. Spirit of Bermuda flipped while coming onto the track from the paddock and was scratched.
The next turf sprint for fillies and mares on this circuit is the $150,000 Autumn Days Stakes going six furlongs at Aqueduct on Nov. 28.