First Captain stays perfect, gets an education in Dwyer score
ELMONT, N.Y. - First Captain not only got a graded stakes victory in Monday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park, but his connections feel he got an education that will only serve him well when the races get tougher later this year.
First Captain, fourth of five early on, was tipped to the outside by Jose Ortiz at the five-sixteenths pole, went past pacesetting Ridin With Biden above the sixteenth pole and won the Dwyer by 1 3/4 lengths. Ridin With Biden was second by a half-length over Snow House. Gershwin and Civil War completed the order of finish.
The victory improved First Captain’s record to 3 for 3 - all in one-turn races at this meet - and likely earned him a spot in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 31.
“I knew he was winning his first two races kind of on ability, but I didn’t really know what to think of him,” said trainer Shug McGaughey, who won his fourth Dwyer. “But today he really kind of showed me something, especially that two turns is going to be his bag. He’s just kind of steady; he doesn’t have a real quick go - probably not bred to - but I think he’ll just keep going.”
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Ortiz had First Captain behind horses and fourth of five down the long backside run while Ridin With Biden ran a quarter in 23.47 seconds and a half-mile in 46.67. Ortiz gradually worked First Captain out into the clear approaching the head of the lane. Ortiz said it took a little “to hit high gear, but when he did he used that beautiful stride and he went by them as he’s supposed to.”
First Captain, a son of Curlin out of the Grade 3-winning mare America, covered the mile in 1:36.19, earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure, and returned $2.80 as the heavy favorite. First Captain, a $1.5 million yearling purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga auction, is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay (also the breeder), and Woodford Racing.
McGaughey said that First Captain was farther off the pace than he thought he would be and that he took dirt hitting him in his face “a lot better today than he did last time.”
McGaughey had originally planned to run First Captain in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga on July 30. He could run in that race or the Jim Dandy the next day. Both of those races are run at 1 1/8 miles around two turns.
“We think he’s just going to improve with distance,” Ortiz said. “He’s begging to go a little bit longer.”