Disarm has first stakes victory in Matt Winn
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Fourth last out in the Kentucky Derby, Disarm notched his first stakes win Sunday at Ellis Park, beating Verifying by a half-length in the Grade 3, $400,000 Matt Winn.
Getting a favorable ground-saving trip behind pacesetting Bo Cruz, Disarm was taken off the fence by jockey Joel Rosario at the three-sixteenths pole, finding room to challenge Verifying when Raise Cain was unable to keep pace with the leaders. Verifying wasn’t stopping, but Disarm ranged outside and bested him in the final half-furlong, running 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track in 1:49.59.
Bo Cruz, making his fourth start and stakes debut, set splits of 24.46, 48.73, and 1:13.05 over a sealed surface before giving way to Verifying, who had stalked the leader throughout the contest. While no match for the top pair, Bo Cruz held third by 1 1/4 lengths over Raise Cain, the Gotham winner.
Denington, Go Soldier Go, and King Russell completed the order of finish in a race originally scheduled for Churchill Downs but moved to Ellis along with the rest of the Churchill spring meet following several equine fatalities.
Verifying rebounded from a 16th-place Derby finish and appeared to get back to the form that earned him a close second-place finish behind Tapit Trice on April 8 at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes. Verifying got a 99 Beyer Speed Figure in the Blue Grass, while one week later Disarm earned a 91 finishing third in the Grade 3 Lexington. While there wasn’t a lot between the two horses on Sunday, Disarm looks like the progressive one.
Disarm impressively won a Saratoga maiden race last August but didn’t start again until Feb. 19. His connections, trainer Steve Asmussen and owner-breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds, were keen to get into the Derby, initially qualifying for the race with the Lexington third. Disarm gave a good account of himself rallying steadily for fourth in the Derby, after which Winchell and Asmussen eschewed the Preakness or the Belmont in favor of a less-demanding spot that could serve as a bridge to more important races this summer.
Disarm broke well enough from post 2 and got into a good position, but he is a colt who needs to be kept interested during his racing. Rosario stayed busy on his mount into and around the far turn.
“I have to ride him a little bit to get him engaged. After that, he was good,” Rosario said.
Indeed, Disarm was a willing partner when asked to run down Verifying, closing stoutly for the victory. Disarm paid $4.24 as the favorite. By Gun Runner out of Easy Tap, by Tapit, Disarm, Asmussen said all spring, was a colt who would benefit from racing and maturing. He’s benefitting. Brighter stages await.
***Unifying the one in Leslie’s Lady
As the son of and longtime assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Riley Mott has been around countless stakes horses. Sunday at Ellis, he sent out his first stakes winner as a head trainer when Unifying rolled to a three-length score in the $123,050 Leslie’s Lady.
Unifying’s second-place finish last December in the Year’s End at Oaklawn had marked Mott’s best showing among six previous stakes runners. The filly, by Union Rags out of Monarchia, by Arch, took a significant step forward winning a first-level allowance race May 5 at Oaklawn and improved again Sunday.
Splitting horses in upper stretch under Cristian Torres, Unifying hit the front and easily repelled a bid from 9-5 favorite Topsy, who finished second, more than three lengths clear of longshot third-place finisher B G Warrior. Unifying ran seven furlongs over the sloppy, sealed surface in 1:23.64 and paid $11.90. The winner is owned by Sheri Greenberg, Staghawk Stables, Tom Reiman, and Ronald Johnson.
***The Godolphin homebred 4-year-old filly Loved looked like a stakes horse in waiting winning a second-level allowance race by 12 1/2 lengths Sunday. Loved, a Medaglia d’Oro filly trained by Brendan Walsh, debuted in March 2022 but didn’t make her second start until this past April at Keeneland. There, she won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 11 1/2 lengths, coming back to capture a Churchill first-level allowance by 4 1/2 before Sunday’s laughably easy win, Tyler Gaffalione gearing the filly down through the final half-furlong.
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