Emmanuel leads all the way in Pennine Ridge Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher felt Emmanuel could be effective on turf. He just wasn’t sure how effective Emmanuel would be on turf that had some give in it.
But when Emmanuel was able to make a clear lead through pedestrian fractions under Irad Ortiz Jr., the type of turf didn’t matter as Emmanuel led all the way in recording a one-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park.
Napoleonic War finished second, a half-length in front of Limited Liability. Unanimous Consent, unbeaten in his first three starts, finished fourth. Daunt and Elizar completed the order of finish.
Emmanuel, a son of More Than Ready, won his first two starts on dirt then finished fourth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and third in the Grade 1 Blue Grass as he attempted to jump on the Triple Crown trail.
Pletcher worked Emmanuel twice on the Belmont turf, and preferred his move on May 29 over firm ground to that of his move on May 22 over turf labeled good.
Though the turf was labeled firm Saturday, it still had some moisture in it due to rains earlier in the week.
Emmanuel broke super sharp and established a 1 1/2-length advantage while running an opening quarter in 25.19 seconds. He continued clear through a quarter in 51.72 and six furlongs in 1:15.91.
When the field inched closer to Emmanuel coming to the quarter pole, Ortiz still had plenty of horse left and asked his colt to respond and Emmanuel opened up again.
Emmanuel, owned by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.11 and returned $5.80 as a somewhat surprising favorite.
“He quickened when Irad asked him to, but I do believe he’ll be better when we get a little firmer ground,” Pletcher said.
The win was the fourth on the card for Ortiz, who has moved into second in the jockey standings with 25 wins, five fewer than Dylan Davis.
“He was the speed so I don’t get in his way, the track is a little soft, the pace was okay,” Ortiz said. “I took a long hold, let him do his thing, at the quarter pole I asked him and he gave me a good turn of foot.”
Pletcher indicated the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby on July 9 would be Emmanuel’s next target.
Unanimous Consent was the morning-line favorite, but went off the 3-1 second choice. He was a bit compromised by the slow pace under Manny Franco. Napoleonic War was actually behind Unanimous Consent when racing fourth early and came with a nice run for the place spot under Flavien Prat. Both horses are trained by Chad Brown.
“I was really happy with Napoleonic War’s race,” Brown said. “Unanimous Consent was disappointing, but it was totally out of his game. I was surprised he was ahead of Napoleonic War but he kind of put himself there, which was fine. Manny didn’t really have any options, he’s on one of the favorites, he was going to have to engage at some point and he had to go wide to try and do it. It’s just not the way the horse wants to run, it’s just the way it unfolded.”