Closing Bell takes Dueling Grounds Derby

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Coming off a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Secretariat on Aug. 15, Closing Bell seemed to tower over the field in Monday’s $300,000 Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs and went off heavily favored at 4-5 odds.

The actual running proved a more closely matched affair than the betting, though in the end, it was Closing Bell who still rewarded his many backers with a head victory over Wireless Future.

Jockey Jose Lezcano may have provided the difference on the winner, positioning him perfectly in fourth during much of the early running and giving the sometimes lazy horse regular reminders to stay involved and go after the leaders.

Urged on through parts of the second turn of the 1 5/16-mile race and through the entire final three-eighths, Closing Bell just had enough eke out a narrow victory.

“That jock just earned his money there,” said Kenny McCarthy, assistant to winning trainer Bill Mott.

The winner, a 3-year-old son of Tapit owned by WinStar Farm, recorded his first stakes victory in the Dueling Grounds Derby. He raced 1 5/16 miles on a “good” turf course in 2:17.60, paying $3.80.

Although it appeared that Closing Bell might have relaxed upon making the lead over Wireless Future in the closing yards, Lezcano said that was not the case, noting that the runner-up and jockey Drayden Van Dyke still had plenty left.

Longshot Mission Driven finished 2 1/4 lengths back in third.