Firenze Fire, Belmont main track perfect together in Vosburgh

ELMONT, N.Y. - The career-ending injury to Volatile created a void in the sprint division. Firenze Fire did his best Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park to begin to fill it.

Returning to his favorite surface - a fast Belmont Park main track - Firenze Fire rebounded from a last-place finish in the Grade 1 Forego in the slop at Saratoga last month with a 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Vosburgh Stakes.

Funny Guy, the 9-5 favorite, rallied to get second by 1 1/4 lengths over the pace-setting Share the Ride. True Timber was fourth, a head over Engage. Stan the Man scratched.

The biggest defection was Volatile, who had ascended to the top of the male sprint division with fast victories in the Aristides at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga.

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But Volatile, who was pointing to the Vosburgh, suffered a facture to his right front cannon bone and was retired earlier this week.

“The Breeders’ Cup, it’s wide open now,” said Ron Lombardi, the owner/breeder of Firenze Fire. “I have to think we’re definitely in that mix.”

On a fast track, Firenze Fire typically runs his race. On a fast Belmont track, he always runs his race. The Vosburgh was the fifth stakes win from seven tries over a fast Belmont main track. One of his losses at Belmont was a nose defeat to Imperial Hint in last year’s Vosburgh.

On Saturday, under Jose Lezcano, Firenze Fire sat a comfortable second, stalking Share the Ride through a quarter of 22.33 seconds and a half-mile in 45.53.

Turning for home, Lezcano guided Firenze Fire off the inside, passed Share the Ride above the eighth pole and won fairly easily.

“I wanted to break good and get him in the bridle the whole way, at last I think he gives you his best run that way,” said Lezcano, who won three races on Saturday’s card. “He gave it to me. I asked at the quarter pole he took off.”

Firenze Fire, a 5-year-old son of Poseidon’s Warrior, covered six furlongs in 1:09.74 and returned $7.20 as the second choice.

“I see Jose just taking off the speed a little bit, so he had plenty of horse,” Trainer Kelly Breen said. “If I can say he doesn’t like the mud, I can say he doesn’t like the mud; he showed it today. Put a line through his last race and he really performed well today.”

The win was the 12th from 29 starts for Firenze Fire. The $82,500 first-place purse pushed his career earnings to $2,038,250. The victory earned Firenze Fire a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to be run Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Firenze Fire has participated in the last three Breeders’ Cups, finishing fifth in last year’s Sprint.

Firenze Fire made his first 24 starts for trainer Jason Servis. In March, Servis was indicted by federal authorities for allegedly giving performance-enhancing drugs to horses.

Lombardi moved Firenze Fire to Breen. The horse has two wins from five starts for Breen, including the Grade 2 True North here in June. In the Grade 1 Vanderbilt, Firenze Fire was beaten two lengths by Volatile. His other two races came in the slop in the Grade 1 Carter, where he finished fourth, and the Forego.

“Kelly’s done a fantastic job with him,” Lombardi said. “It’s our second win since everything. He’s a solid horse, he always delivers.”