First Constitution first all the way in Jazil Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - First Constitution scored his first victory in the U.S. on Saturday, using his speed to get to the advantageous rail and lead all the way under Jose Lezcano to win the $100,000 Jazil Stakes by 6 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct.
Why Why Paul Why, who sat third early, finished second by 10 lengths over Twelve Volt Man. Forewarned was fourth, followed by Core Conviction, who chased First Constitution through the first six furlongs before fading to last as the even-money favorite.
The Jazil field scratched down to a field of five with the defections of Splicethemainbrace and Empty Tomb. They were two of the primary speed horses in the field.
Though Core Conviction had shown speed in his two wins here around one turn, he couldn’t match strides early with First Constitution, who broke on top and ran splits of 23.13 seconds for the quarter, 46.78 for the half-mile, and 1:10.15 for the opening six furlongs.
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Core Conviction, under Jose Ortiz, chased that pace, but couldn’t keep up and started to retreat around the five-sixteenths pole. That left First Constitution pretty much by himself as he closed the final three furlongs in 37.81 seconds to complete the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.96 over a fast main track. He returned $7.90 as the second choice.
“I know I was going a little fast, but he was doing it very comfortable,” Lezcano said. “I know the track played fast today, too.”
First Constitution, a 5-year-old son of Constitution, is owned by Don Alberto Stable, WinStar Farm, and Twin Creeks Racing Stable. He is trained by Todd Pletcher.
Byron Hughes, Pletcher’s Belmont-based assistant, said he was a little concerned when he saw the fractions on the board. He grew less concerned when he saw how easy First Constitution seemed to be going compared to Core Conviction.
“On the far turn, I saw Jose [Ortiz] start nudging on Chad’s horse and Lezcano was still sitting pretty chilly. I was starting to feel pretty confident we were going to pull it off,” Hughes said.