Horologist and Alvarado stalk and pounce to win Top Flight Invitational

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The $100,000 Top Flight Invitational went exactly as jockey Junior Alvarado and the betting public thought it would.

Alvarado had Horologist stalking the pace-setting Mrs. Danvers for the opening seven furlongs of the 1 1/8-mile race, was able to wrest the lead from that one in mid-stretch, and then gradually edged away to win the Top Flight by a length as the even-money favorite at Aqueduct.

Mrs. Danvers held second by a neck over Lucky Stride. She was followed by Queen Nekia, Thankful and Flashyndynamite as the six-horse field finished in parimutuel order.

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The victory was the eighth in 21 starts and the fifth in a stakes for Horologist, a New Jersey-bred daughter of Gemologist owned by There’s a Chance Stable, Medallion Racing and Parkland Thoroughbreds and trained by Bill Mott.

For Mott and Alvarado, it was their third stakes victory together at the Aqueduct spring meet. They previously won the Grade 3 Distaff with Paris Lights and the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior with Modernist.

Horologist, who last October won the Grade 2 Beldame Invitational at Belmont Park, was making her first start since finishing ninth behind Monomoy Girl in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Mindful of the layoff, Alvarado did not want to be on the lead, but he didn’t want to be too far off of the pace either.

Horologist and Alvarado were able to stalk Mrs. Danvers, under Kendrick Carmouche, through fractions of 24.72 seconds, 49.55 and 1:14.16 for the opening six furlongs before gradually drawing up alongside the leader. It took a little doing to get the lead from Mrs. Danvers, but Horologist was able to do that at the eighth pole and hold Mrs. Danvers at bay in the final furlong.

Horologist covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.13 and returned $4 as the favorite.

“This track is very tiring,” Alvarado said. “I didn’t want to be on the lead because I didn’t want any horse putting pressure on me the whole way. It took me a little bit to get her settled, but when she settled on the backside I knew I was good at that point. Turning for home, I had to ask her a little bit, but it’s not easy coming off a layoff on this track going a mile and an eighth.”

Carmouche said trainer Shug McGaughey left the tactics on Mrs. Danvers up to him, and Carmouche felt being on the lead was his best chance to win.

“If I let Junior have the lead he was going to go too easy,” Carmouche said. “I’d rather me do it than him do it, but the filly ran good. She fought back gamely, just a better horse beat us today.”

Lucky Stride was a bit unlucky. She was moving around in the gate and jumped up when the doors opened, costing her some early position. The slow early pace didn’t help her cause.

“I thought they were going to go faster than that,” jockey Manny Franco said. “It is what it is.”