Caramel Swirl bounces back with triumph in Vagrancy Stakes
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Trainer Bill Mott has some nice female sprinters, too.
A day after winning the Grade 3 Runhappy Stakes for males with Candy Man Rocket, Mott sent out Caramel Swirl to a 2 1/2-length victory in in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Vagrancy Stakes at Belmont Park.
Dr B, the 7-5 favorite who had a difficult trip under Irad Ortiz Jr., had to settle for second, three-quarters of a length in front of the pacesetting Rossa Veloce. Mosienko finished fourth, followed by Midnight Stroll, Funny How and Easy to Bless. Beguine scratched.
The victory was the fifth from 13 starts for Caramel Swirl, a 5-year-old daughter of Union Rags owned by Godolphin Racing. She was coming off a fourth-place finish as the 2-5 favorite in the Minaret stakes at Tampa on Feb. 11.
Mott said over the years he’s had several horses flop in their seasonal debut at Tampa and rebound to win major stakes. Cody’s Wish, Royal Delta and Drosselmeyer all won Breeders’ Cup races after getting beat at Tampa.
Mott felt one reason Caramel Swirl got beat at Tampa was because jockey Junior Alvarado tried to keep her too close to the pace. On Sunday, after Caramel Swirl was up close in the first furlong, Alvarado let her drop back to next-to-last.
Rosse Veloce, under Manny Franco, set the pace - running a half-mile in 46.60 seconds - chased first by Easy to Bless, then Mosienko and Midnight Stroll.
Alvarado got Caramel Swirl going again on the turn and came five-wide turning for home. Caramel Swirl overtook Rosse Veloce inside the sixteenth pole and held Dr B at bay in the lane.
“We wanted to let her settle,” said Mott, who added Caramel Swirl hadn’t raced in three months owing to a minor foot abscess. “Probably one reason she got beat at Tampa was trying to keep her up close to the pace. She wants to make one run like she did in the Ballerina.”
Caramel Swirl finished second to Goodnight Olive in last year’s Grade 1 Ballerina. Caramel Swirl, who covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.98 and returned $6.40 as the second choice, gives Mott a second top female sprinter to go along with Frank’s Rockette. At least one of them is likely for the Grade 2, $200,000 Bed o’ Roses at Belmont on June 17.
Caramel Swirl may have benefitted Sunday from Dr B having a difficult trip. Up close early, Dr B dropped back to last entering the far turn. Ortiz rallied her six-wide on the far turn and though she did make up some ground, she never seriously threatened Caramel Swirl.
“I broke running but I couldn’t make the lead and I couldn’t hold my position in second so I had to go to Plan B,” Ortiz told NYRA publicity. “There weren’t too many options. I had to sit behind the speed and wait longer than I wanted, but that’s racing.”
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