Gucci Factor comes out on top in blanket Poker finish

Gucci Factor won a five-horse photo-finish and with it the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes late Sunday afternoon at Belmont Park.

It took placing judges more than five minutes to determine whether Gucci Factor or Hembree had hit the line first – or simultaneously – before the result was posted. Noses behind those two were Krampus and Dr. Edgar.

Fifth in the blanket finish was favored Clyde’s Image, who was on his way to victory in the final half-furlong when he seriously injured a tendon in his right foreleg. Javier Castellano quickly stopped riding Clyde’s Image and pulled him up just past the line, after which the 5-year-old gelding was transported by the equine ambulance back to trainer Tom Bush’s barn at Belmont. Bush said Clyde’s Image had been administered tranquilizers and anti-inflammatories and was standing steadily in an ice bath. His racing career, Bush said, appears to be over, but Clyde’s Image can otherwise recover.

“I’m just happy nothing happened to the jockey and that my horse is still on four legs,” said Bush.

Dr. Edgar set the Poker pace, going 23.71 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 46.68 to the half, Clyde’s Image tracking his every move from second. Six furlongs went in 1:10.44 and Clyde’s Image, off two strong performances in Kentucky, attacked the leader, forging to the front at the furlong grounds and opening daylight. It was in his final push to the wire that Clyde’s Image went wrong, the chasing horses closing suddenly in the waning yards.

Joel Rosario on Gucci Factor probably though he was riding hard for second, but the final push Gucci Factor made after racing seventh of eight propelled him to the narrowest of margins, the winner stopping the timer in 1:32.54 for one mile on firm going and paying $12.20 as the third choice. Hembree closed from fifth to narrowly miss, while Krampus stalked the pace and early leader Dr. Edgar hung around willingly for fourth. Behind Clyde’s Image came Master Merion, Ticondergoa (who stumbled at the start), and Breaking the Rules.

Trainer Christophe Clement scratched Therapist but let New York-bred Gucci Factor take his place in the lineup. A 6-year-old gelding by Gio Ponti (also trained by Clement) and out of Shoo In, by Dynaformer, Gucci Factor didn’t debut until the summer of his 3-year-old season in 2016 and when he began his 5-year-old campaign in May 2018 had only made six starts. But the patience shown by Clement and owner Castleton Lyons has paid off. Gucci Factor won Sunday for the fifth time in his last six starts, following up a sharp score in the statebred-restricted Kingston Stakes with victory in his graded stakes debut Sunday.