Bal Harbour wins scratch-stricken Gio Ponti Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Friday’s $150,000 Gio Ponti Stakes came off the turf it left a field of three, with two trained by Todd Pletcher.

The bettors went for Life’s a Parlay, sending him off the 1-9 favorite. But it was the other Pletcher trainee, Bal Harbour, who upset his stablemate with a front-running, 2 1/4-length victory in the race for 3-year-olds at frigid Aqueduct. Life’s a Parlay finished second, 4 3/4 lengths ahead of Roaming Union.

The Gio Ponti was one of five scheduled turf races that were moved to the main track due to the extreme cold.

All three of the Gio Ponti runners were also entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Discovery Stakes. They will all scratch, leaving that race with a four-horse field topped by Belmont Stakes runner-up Gronkowski.

All seven horses entered to run on turf in the Gio Ponti were scratched by their connections.

Bal Harbour had raced spotty early in his career. Following a fifth-place finish in the Private Terms Stakes in March, Bal Harbour was given a layoff, during which he was gelded.

He came off the bench with a nose victory over Title Ready in an a Keeneland allowance race. He confirmed that performance Friday.

Under Javier Castellano, Bal Harbour opened a length advantage through a quarter in 24.48 seconds and a half-mile in 48.12. Life’s a Parlay, in second under Luis Saez, came to Bal Harbour’s throatlatch at the quarter pole, but Bal Harbour repelled him in the lane and edged clear.

Bal Harbour, a gelding by First Samurai owned by the Brunetti family’s Red Oak Stable, ran the mile in 1:37.21 and returned $9.90 as the second choice.

“Seems like the freshening and castrating have made a big difference,” Pletcher said. “His two starts since then have been very impressive. I thought today’s race, even though it was a short field, the track’s been pretty slow and for them to run [1:37.21] off moderate fractions I thought was a pretty strong effort.”

Pletcher wasn’t totally disappointed in the effort by Life’s a Parlay, who was making just his fourth career start, compared with Bal Harbour, who won for the fifth time in 11 starts.

“I don’t think it was that Life’s a Parlay wasn’t running down the lane, I think Bal Harbour was just really running,” Pletcher said.

Bombshell takes Forever Together

For the second straight day, trainer Arnaud Delacour won a stakes at Aqueduct that was scheduled for the turf but run on the dirt.

Bombshell, a two-time allowance winner on dirt in 2017, raced between horses under Jorge Vargas Jr., took the lead on the middle of the turn and drew off to a 4 1/4-length victory in the $150,000 Forever Together Stakes for fillies and mares. Sexy Reasons, one of two main-track-only entrants who ran, held second by a nose over Dolce Lili, the 6-5 favorite. Ready to Confess and Saida, the other main-track-only entrant, completed the order of finish.

The Forever Together, like the Gio Ponti, was scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf, but was run as a one-turn mile. On Thursday, Delacour won the off-the-turf Central Park Stakes at Aqueduct with Five Star General.

Bombshell hadn’t raced on dirt since she finished fourth of six as the favorite in the Ladies Stakes here in January. Trained by Jimmy Jerkens then, Bombshell had won two of her last three starts on turf, all since being moved to Delacour.

“She had some good back form on the dirt; to be honest, I was really happy to see it was a five-horse field, that helped us a little bit,” Delacour said.

Bombshell was between Saida and Sexy Reasons through reasonable splits of 23.81 seconds and 47.17 for the opening half-mile. Saida retreated on the far turn, leaving Sexy Reasons as the major threat.

Approaching the top of the lane, Bombshell began to put Sexy Reasons away and with one crack of Vargas’ right-handed whip and two of his left, Bombshell drew away.

“He did a pretty good job to keep his position but not go too fast,” Delacour said. “She’s really game.”

Bombshell, a 5-year-old daughter of Bellamy Road owned by Team Valor International, covered the mile in 1:38.86 and returned $12.20 as the fourth choice in the field of five.

Sassy Agnes wires Key Cents

Trainer Linda Rice felt Sassy Agnes and Surge of Pride made a complimentary entry in the $100,000 Key Cents Stakes at Aqueduct. Sassy Agnes had speed. Surge of Pride had a strong closing kick.

On this day, it was Sassy Agnes's speed that prevailed, as she took some early heat from My Best Friend, put that one away and, despite drifting out seven paths in the stretch, held on to win the Key Cents by 1 1/4 lengths.

Espresso Shot, a 20-1 shot, rallied to get second by a neck over Take Me to Hardoon.

The win was the third straight stakes victory for Sassy Agnes, a daughter of Central Banker owned by Beach Haven Thoroughbreds. Her previous two wins had come at Finger Lakes in a pair of six-furlong stakes.

On a relatively slow Aqueduct main track, Sassy Agnes, under Jose Ortiz, ran an opening quarter in 21.98 seconds and a half-mile in 45.39 with My Best Friend to her outside.

Sassy Agnes was able to put that one away and despite tiring, she held off Take Me to Hardoon. Sassy Agnes covered six furlongs in 1:11.79 and returned $13.60.

“She was taking a lot of pressure from the horse on the outside of her, but she’s handled some pressure in the past in a couple of those races at Finger Lakes,” Rice said. “She seems to be progressing.”

Surge of Pride, coming out of a third in the Tempted, did little running Friday, finishing eighth.

Ortiz, riding Sassy Agnes for the first time, was impressed with the filly’s performance.

“What I liked about her is she took the heat early and then she kept going,” Ortiz said. “She got a little tired but the track is really tiring, to go 21 and hang on is very tough.”

Rice said she would look to keep Sassy Agnes at six furlongs and may run her back in the Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Series here Dec. 15.