Belmont Park: Weekend Hideaway finds Bongard winner's circle

ELMONT, N.Y. – Weekend Hideaway got the Showcase Day pick six off to a formful start, handling an off track and 13 rivals in the $125,000 Bertram F. Bongard for 2-year-old New York-breds.

Weekend Hidaway ($4.10) raced in closest attendance to Saint Arthur through opening fractions of 22.41 and 46.12 seconds, and moved through inside that rival to take the lead approaching the five-sixteenths marker. Despite drifting out late beneath Jose Lezcano, the Speightstown colt remained clear to score by 2 1/2 lengths.

“I tried to be more patient and wait a little longer,” said Lezcano. “He broke good and I let the other horse go, when I asked him he grabbed the bit and took off.”

Weekend Hideaway, purchased out of the Flying Zee dispersal sale last fall by Michael Hoffman’s Red and Black Stable, ran the seven furlongs in 1:24.59 seconds on a drying out main track labeled good.

Weekend Hideaway was coming out of a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Futurity, and improved to 3-1-1 from five starts for trainer Phil Serpe. The $75,000 winner’s share boosted his earnings to $203,000.

“This means a lot to me because this is one of the last years that I bred these horses with Mr. [Carl] Lizza from Flying Zee Stable,” said Serpe.

Saint Arthur, a 25-1 longshot, held stubbornly to save the place by a length over second choice In Harm’s Way. The latter also drifted out in the stretch, but was better than five lengths clear of fourth finisher Lucci the Lion.