Fire At Will puts them to sleep in Pilgrim

The field for the $150,000 Pilgrim on Saturday at Belmont Park was long on talent but short on early speed. A fact jockey Kendrick Carmouche exploited when able to nurse Fire At Will to a gate-to-wire two-length decision over 4-5 favorite Public Sector as the longest price on the board in the Grade 2 fixture for 2-year-olds that serves as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Fire At Will went postward at odds of 13-1 despite being the only stakes winner in the field for the 1 1/16-mile Pilgrim, having won his maiden in the With Anticipation at Saratoga on Sept. 2, a race scheduled for the turf but ultimately decided at seven furlongs over a sloppy track. Fire At Will, a son of Declaration at War, finished an even and somewhat troubled sixth in his only previous start on turf.

Fire At Will took command before the end of the opening furlong, with Carmouche backing the pace down to a relative crawl over the firm course with the leader posting early splits of 25.58 seconds and 50.35. Stalked by the undefeated Step Dancer from the outset, Fire At Will readily disposed of that rival when roused upon settling into the stretch, quickly opened a commanding advantage, and was never seriously menaced thereafter.

Public Sector saved ground while within easy striking distance early, angled outside for the stretch run, finished willingly enough, but could not make up any appreciable ground on the winner while easily second best. Step Dancer outgamed the rail skimming Shawdyshawdyshawdy by a neck for third. Zippy Baby and an eased-up American Monarch rounded out the complete order of finish. It’s a Gamble and Nathan Detroit were scratched earlier in the day.

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Fire At Will is trained by Mike Maker for Three Diamonds Farm. He covered the distance in 1:43.46 and paid $29.

Maker, who was at Pimlico on Saturday, said he talked briefly to Carmouche about race strategy prior to the Pilgrim.

“I spoke to Kendrick a little bit about the pace situation without trying to handcuff him,” said Maker. “Watching him go down the backstretch and seeing those fractions I was pretty confident. I just thought if he could keep on whipping out those 25s we’d be in pretty good shape.”

Maker said he thought Fire At Will benefited from his first start on the grass.

“He was a little bit wide the first time out but the race had to help him,” said Maker. “When the With Anticipation came off the grass I was a little concerned about running him on the dirt, but then again he’s a very classy horse and I think the sky’s the limit with him.”

Maker said Fire At Will would go straight to Kentucky to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

Carmouche said he too was confident the way Fire At Will was handling himself during the early stages of the race.

“He already had his ears pricked before we turned down the backside, said Carmouche. “He sat so nice. I just tried to make sure to wait as long as I could because when you know you have a Chad Brown horse" -- Public Sector -- "chasing you, you have to keep them going fast a long time.”