Dom the Bomb inspires confidence with big Illinois Futurity win

STICKNEY, Ill. – Dom the Bomb is an Illinois-bred 2-year-old, but the way he has dominated restricted competition while demonstrating somewhat surprising stamina has led his connections to consider placing the horse in more ambitious spots early next year.

Dom the Bomb won the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity by more than five lengths, a victory that produced a good 82 Beyer Speed Figure. It was the first two-turn race for Dom the Bomb, who has the brilliant speed of a sprinter but was willing to harness it in the Jim Edgar. The performance earned Dom the Bomb a quick ticket out of Hawthorne, with the horse bound for Florida.

“We’re going to try bigger things with him,” trainer Larry Rivelli said Wednesday. “He’s leaving tomorrow for Florida. He’ll go to a farm in Ocala for a week and a half or two weeks, and then is going to Gulfstream.”

Rivelli, who trains Dom the Bomb for Richard Ravin and V Leaf Stables, said a one-turn dirt stakes at Gulfstream early next year is the likely next stop for Dom the Bomb, a son of Bring the Heat. The six-furlong, $100,000 Spectacular Bid will be run there Jan. 3, while the seven-furlong, $150,000 Hutcheson comes up Jan. 24. Rivelli said he also might consider Dom the Bomb for the 3-year-old dirt stakes program at Tampa Bay Downs.

What most impressed about Dom the Bomb’s win Saturday ironically was how slow he ran early. At Keeneland in October (when Dom the Bomb still was getting right, Rivelli said), Dom the Bomb led a dirt sprint through fractions of 21.45 seconds and 45.27. In the Jim Edgar, he sat comfortably in second, never seeming to pull hard on jockey Tim Thornton, through an early pace of 25.14 and 49.75.

“The horse just rated beautifully,” Rivelli said. “I think he deserves a shot in better races.”

Older route horses in feature

The featured eighth race Friday, a second-level allowance also open to $25,000 claimers and carded for 1 1/16 miles, is a pretty good one, with a field of eight headed by Copus and Mavericking.

Copus last started earlier this month in the six-furlong Lightning Jet for Illinois-bred sprinters, and the race was too short for him. He stretches out to a better route trip and is dropped in for a $25,000 claiming tag by trainer Jim DiVito, but the drop does not seem negative. Copus was claimed for this price about 13 months ago and has more than earned back that expense for current connections. A return to the form he showed in an Oct. 14 two-turn race at Hawthorne probably would land him a win Friday.

Mavericking, another horse entered under the claiming option, makes his first start since June, but long-layoff comebacks are not a negative when it comes to trainer Roger Brueggemann. Brueggemann is down in terms of starters and winners this Hawthorne season, but Mavericking looks well intended in Friday’s eighth.