Franco stays hot, rides Law Professor to Queens County triumph
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Benefitting from some class relief and a perfect trip under the white-hot Manny Franco, Law Professor cruised to a 7 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Queens County Stakes at Aqueduct.
Sitting a stalking third in a field of 10, Law Professor took over from pacesetters Sea Foam and Thomas Shelby before the quarter pole and opened up at will in the lane for the facile victory.
Naval Aviator, third in the Discovery Stakes here on Nov. 27, rallied at 32-1 to be second, three-quarters of a length over Thomas Shelby.
Bourbonic rallied to be fourth, followed by Sea Foam, Plot the Dots, Unbridled Bomber, Shooger Ray Too, Forewarned and Double Crown. Eloquist, the Discovery winner, was scratched as a precaution after his right hind leg got caught in the gate during the load, per NYRA senior examining veterinarian Sarah Hinchcliffe.
The Queens County was originally carded for Dec. 31, but had to be rescheduled when the last four races from that card were canceled due to fog.
It made for an anxious week for Rob Atras, the trainer of Law Professor, who knew his horse would be a strong favorite coming out of a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and a second to Life Is Good in the Grade 1 Woodward.
“You’re a little anxious, he can be kind of a high-strung horse,” Atras said.
Any anxiety was alleviated when Law Professor broke sharp and jockey Manny Franco put him to the outside in third position. He was within 1 1/2 lengths of the lead for the opening six furlongs before he put himself on even terms and quickly to the lead before the quarter pole when Franco took a peak under his right shoulder and saw no one coming.
“I don’t want to move too soon, I know I have a lot of horse under me, I just wanted to wait a little longer, but the horse just wanted to run,” Franco said.
The victory was the fourth on the card for Franco, one day after he won a NYRA record six on Friday’s program.
“I can’t believe it, I’m just grateful to be part of this winning [streak], Franco said.
Law Professor, a 4-year-old gelding by Constitution owned by Twin Creeks Racing, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.00 over a good track and returned $4.20 as the favorite.
Law Professor is on the also-eligible list for the invitees to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. Atras said it’s possible he could look at that race depending how Law Professor comes out of the Queens County.
“It is a little quick back, but I wouldn’t rule out anything,” Atras said. “Just real happy to get this performance and hoping he comes out good and we can point to some bigger races hopefully.”
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