Dr. Blute, in two-turn debut, shows the way in Empire Classic
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Dr. Blute made a successful stakes and two-turn debut Sunday at Aqueduct, making the front soon after the start under Jose Ortiz then leading all the way to win the $250,000 Empire Classic by three-quarters of a length at Aqueduct.
Curlin’s Wisdom, making his third start in 25 days, rallied from fourth to get second by a neck over Barese, the 2-1 favorite. It was another half-length back to Sea Foam, who chased the early pace, but could not go on in the lane. Big Bobby, Brooklyn Strong and Montebello, the latter who was basically eased, completed the order of finish.
The win was the second straight and third from 11 starts for Dr. Blute, a 4-year-old gelding by Not This Time owned by Sean Flanagan and trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. Dr. Blute was making his fourth start for Joseph since Flanagan moved him from John Kimmel earlier this year.
Dr. Blute had mediocre form sprinting, so Joseph was anxious to stretch him out. After getting beat a neck in a Saratoga allowance going a mile in August, Dr. Blute came to Aqueduct and won that first-level condition by 6 3/4 lengths on Sept. 18.
The Empire Classic was his first attempt at 1 1/8 miles and around two turns.
“Going longer in general made him a much better horse,” Joseph said by phone from Florida. “We felt like he would stretch out going two turns, obviously he had to do it before we could be certain about it and he handled it quite well.”
On paper, there appeared to be plenty of speed with Sea Foam and perhaps Montebello wanting to be forward. After charging the gate before the official start of the race, Dr. Blute got settled and broke sharp when the doors opened for real.
Under Jose Ortiz, Dr. Blute outfooted Sea Foam, under Kendrick Carmouche, and maintained a measured advantage through splits of 23.97, 48.41 and 1:12.84 for six furlongs. While Sea Foam was basically one-paced, Barese, under Manny Franco, and Curlin’s Wisdom, under Jose Lezcano, were trying to make a run from off the pace, but couldn’t catch Dr. Blute.
“I felt on paper I was the speed of the speed,” Ortiz said. “I talked to Saffie and he left it up to me. … The way he broke there was no way I was going to give the lead away.”
Dr. Blute covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.95 and returned $8.40 as the second choice.
Joseph said Dr. Blute would likely ship to Florida at the end of November with the rest of his New York string and a decision would be made later if the gelding would return to New York for a stakes during the winter or get a freshening.
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