Clear sailing for longshot
ELMONT, N.Y. - Rochelle's Terms, the longest price in the field at 26-1, came with a late run to win Saturday's $108,500 Turnback the Alarm at Aqueduct.
Rochelle's Terms collared Resort with less than a sixteenth remaining for a half-length win in the Grade 3 race. Strolling Belle, the 3-5 favorite in the six-horse field of fillies and mares, had a nightmare trip and finished third, two lengths behind Resort.
Completing the order of finish in the 1 1/8-mile Turnback the Alarm were Unrestrained, Out of Sync, and Indy Bird.
Indy Bird, the pacesetter, injured her left foreleg, which was placed in an air cast. She was removed from the track by the horse ambulance.
Things went wrong from the start for Strolling Belle, who was ridden by John Velazquez, as she stumbled badly and went to her knees from post 1. From there on, Strolling Belle was stuck in traffic and was never able to run freely.
"When she stumbled, I didn't want to rush her off her feet," Velazquez said. "I ate it all the way around with nowhere to go."
A disgusted John Kimmel, Strolling Belle's trainer, remarked as he watched the replay, "Sometimes my horses get in more trouble in short fields than they do in bigger ones."
Rochelle's Terms, on the other hand, had clear sailing. Under Robbie Davis, the winner raced in the back of the pack on the inside, before being easing to the outside around the far turn.
Davis, who won three races on the card, said, "She needs cover to be at her best. Today, we had a beautiful set up. She settled perfectly and was able to come with that one run outside."
Rochelle's Terms ($55) covered the distance in 1:51.19 over a fast track.
Rochelle's Terms, a 4-year-old, won a third-level allowance race at Saratoga, but lost her next two starts by a combined margin of 15 1/2 lengths.
Howie Tesher, who trains Rochelle's Terms for Four Media Farm, said he would keep the filly in New York for the winter.
"She's been rushed in her last two races, and she doesn't like that," Tesher said. "Since I had her, I thought she would win a stakes. She seems to like Aqueduct."