Classic of Course uses wide rally to take Cutler Bay; has American Turf up next
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There was a time when trainer Patrick Biancone thought Classic of Course could be a Kentucky Derby horse. Well, he’ll likely be running at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, just in a different race and on a different surface.
Classic of Course made his turf debut a winning one in Saturday’s $158,000 Cutler Bay Stakes at Gulfstream Park, rallying four wide in the stretch under Frankie Dettori and running by 4-5 favorite Forged Steel late to win the 7 1/2-furlong race by three-quarters of a length. Forged Steel, who set the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr., finished second by that same margin over I’m Due.
Biancone had planned on running Classic of Course in the Jeff Ruby Stakes a week ago over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface but had a minor setback which forced him to miss that race.
Acknowledging that Classic of Course is probably not fast enough to compete with the upper tier 3-year-olds on dirt, he went to the turf.
Dettori, replacing the injured Junior Alvarado, had Classic of Course in fifth position along the rail while Forged Steel ran a posted half-mile in 45.97 seconds and six furlongs in 1:08.89.
Dettori was going to try to make a move on the rail, but I’m Due, under Paco Lopez, had that spot and was still moving forward. So, Dettori swung wide and Classic of Course, second time in blinkers, caught and passed Forged Steel in deep stretch.
Classic of Course, a Florida-bred son of Awesome of Course owned by Biancone and Amy Dunne, covered the distance over firm turf in 1:26.48 and returned $15.20 to win.
“Patrick said try to take the break, I tried, but they were going too fast for me,” Dettori said. “I tucked him on the fence, Paco had the spot that I wanted. I had to go wide, but he was full of momentum and he did the rest.”
Biancone said Classic of Course showed some maturity in the way he finished the Cutler Bay. Now, he will point him to the Grade 1, $1 million American Turf at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on May 3.
“His ranking for me [among 3-year-olds] he maybe 19, 23, 24 in the country, but it’s tough in the Derby, we don’t want to kill him,” Biancone said. “If you cannot win, you better take another way. As he seems to go as fast on the turf as he does on the dirt, we’ll run on Derby day but the other race.”
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