Closing Bell looks ready to earn first win since 2015

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After competing in nothing but stakes for two years – and on two continents – Closing Bell was afforded some class relief last month when he made his 5-year-old debut in an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs.

Unfortunately for him, Closing Bell endured a tough trip when jockey Joel Rosario was forced to check sharply on the son of Tapit at the sixteenth pole. He tried to rerally but had to settle for third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths.

With that race under his belt, and a better post draw, Closing Bell looks primed to return to the winner’s circle in Friday’s second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claiming feature at Aqueduct. A field of seven was entered for the 1 1/16-mile turf race.

After winning a maiden race on dirt at Belmont in July 2015, Closing Bell competed in nine consecutive stakes, winning the Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs in September 2015. After Closing Bell raced four times in the U.S. in 2016, the owners decided to send the horse to Australia, where he ran three times without success.

Returned to trainer Bill Mott early this year, Closing Bell ran at Tampa on March 11, racing in the No. 2 path down the backside and then diving to the rail in the stretch only to have room close on him late.

“It may have cost him the win, getting stopped, checked,” Mott said. “But it was a pretty good race for him.”

For Friday, Closing Bell is drawn on the outside of seven horses in a race that does not appear to have much pace.

Iron Power, a 7-year-old gelding, looks like the primary speed in the field as he returns to turf for the first time since last November’s Artie Schiller Stakes. Iron Power is one of four horses in this field entered for the $62,500 claiming tag.

Mark My Style, beaten a nose in a statebred second-level allowance, and Arcature are racing under the allowance condition.

Key contenders, Race 6

Closing Bell, by Tapit

Last 3 Beyers: 88-NA-NA

◗ Was facing much tougher than these when competing in stakes at longer distances in 2015-16.

◗ Won the Dueling Grounds Derby at 1 5/16 miles in September 2015 for his last victory.

◗ Mott believes the horse can be effective at the 1 1/16-mile distance.

“The other day was a mile and a sixteenth, and if he gets clear run, he was going to be a factor,” Mott said. “He’s come back and worked okay.”

Iron Power, by Mizzen Mast

Last 3 Beyers: 79-75-94

◗ Back to the turf after two failed attempts in dirt stakes where he was soundly defeated by Send It In, the winner of last Saturday’s Grade 3 Excelsior.

◗ Earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102 in winning a spot similar to this over this turf course in November 2014.

“I’m anxious to get him back on the turf,” trainer Mike Hushion said.

Arcature, by Archarcharch

Last 3 Beyers: 82-88-84

◗ A listed stakes winner in Southern California, he finished fourth in a slow-paced allowance race at Gulfstream in his first start for trainer Chad Brown.