Masmak will stretch out for Excelsior Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Masmak ran well enough at one mile for trainer Rick Dutrow to stretch him out to 1 1/8 miles. With the 4-year-old son of Vino Rosso having won two straight races at 1 1/8 miles, Masmak will now try to run even farther in the $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on April 5 at Aqueduct.

For 26 of the last 29 runnings, the Excelsior was contested at 1 1/8 miles. From 2015-17, it was run at 1 1/4 miles. By extending the Excelsior to 1 1/4 miles, it means there is no 1 1/8-mile dirt stakes for older horses on this circuit between the Queens County, run on Dec. 29, and the Grade 1 Whitney, run on Aug. 2.

“We ran him a mile two or three times and I thought I might like him better at a mile and an eighth,” Dutrow said. “After talking to the riders after his last two races they said let him go a little farther, he’ll grind it all day, so we’re going to run him a mile and a quarter as long as he is the way he is right now.”

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Dutrow has run Masmak six times, beginning with a seven-furlong race last Sept. 1 at Saratoga, where he finished second at odds of 28-1. He won two straight one-mile races at Aqueduct before finishing second behind Ouster going a mile in a second-level allowance on Jan. 4.

Masmak successfully stretched out to 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 7, winning a second-level allowance by 2 3/4 lengths, then came back on March 7 to win a third-level allowance by three lengths over Mama’s Gold. He has earned four straight Beyer Speed Figures in the 90s, including a 95 for his March 7 win.

“He looks like he’s getting better and I like the way he’s come out of his race,” Dutrow said.

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