Mr. Buff rides rail to victory in Empire Classic

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mr. Buff didn’t have the early lead in Saturday’s $300,000 Empire Classic at Belmont Park. But he had the rail. According to jockey Junior Alvarado, Mr. Buff “feels like he’s the boss when he has the rail.”

Alvarado made a rail-skimming bid to the lead after the opening half-mile, and Mr. Buff never relinquished it, fending off a late challenge from Dynamax Prime to win the Empire Classic by one length. It was another two lengths to Pat On the Back, the 3-5 favorite who failed to fire in his bid to win the Empire Classic for the second straight year.

Blugrascat’s Smile was fourth, followed by Not That Brady.

The win was the 11th from 32 starts for Mr. Buff and his fifth stakes victory. He finished third to Pat On the Back in this race a year ago.

Mr. Buff, a 5-year-old gelding by Friend or Foe owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman and trained by Joh Kimmel, increased his lifetime earnings to $869,536.

“He’s as good a New York-bred as there is besides the 2-year-old,” said Kimmel, referring to Grade 1 Champagne winner Tiz the Law. “I think this horse is going to have a chance to do something big against open [company] horses down the road. I think it’ll happen next year.”

Mr. Buff’s success has typically come in 1 1/8-mile races run around two turns and when he’s able to make the early lead.

The Empire Classic is a 1 1/8-mile race run around one turn. Not That Brady, who has a history of breaking slow, broke sharp under Luis Saez and went to the front, running an opening quarter in 23.91 seconds.

Mr. Buff was on the inside and just after the half-mile went up in 47.38, Mr. Buff seized the lead. He carried his speed through six furlongs in 1:11.03, a mile in 1:35.63, and despite racing on his incorrect lead through the lane, he covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.65.

Mr. Buff returned $5 as the 3-2 second choice.

“Around the five-eighths pole I had to make my move to hold the rail,” Alvarado said. “I had to get there before [Not That Brady] goes all the way to the rail because if I put him outside horses he won’t pass horses.”

Alvarado said he saw Mr. Buff’s head come up when he tried to make him switch leads “so I left him alone,” he said.

“He was running. I didn’t want to bother him.”

Pat On the Back threw in a rare clunker against New York-breds, getting beat three lengths with no real excuse. Jockey Dylan Davis did mention to the horse’s owners that the horse was a little quieter on Saturday than in his previous races.

“He was just relaxed compared to his last start,” Davis said. “I didn’t have any issues. He was comfortable down the backside, just Mr. Buff was better today.”

Maid of the Mist: Critical Value dominates

Earlier on the card, Alvarado won the $250,000 Maid of the Mist aboard Critical Value, who defeated even-money favorite Naked Avenger by 5 1/2 lengths in the one-mile stakes for 2-year-old statebred fillies.

Alvarado had Critical Value on the outside of Naked Avenger down the backside, trying to keep the favorite pinned insdide. But when Luis Saez opted to make his move on Naked Avenger, Critical Value wasn’t ready to go.

Alvarado bided his time and approaching the top of the stretch he started asking Critical Value to go. This time, the horse responded and struck the front by the eighth pole and drew away emphatically.

Critical Value, a daughter of Bodemeister owned by Marshall Gramm’s Ten Strike Racing and bred by Gramm and Clay Sanders and trained by Jeremiah Englehart, covered the mile in 1:37.07 and returned $7.30 as the second choice.

“I don’t think my filly really likes to be rushed,” Alvarado said. “For a second, I was thinking I’m probably not going to hit the board. Then I kind of left her alone for a little bit and let her pick it up again before the five-sixteenths pole and I mean she got to her next gear. That was what I was hoping the whole way, it just took a little longer that’s all.”

Englehart said he’s intrigued by what Critical Value could become in the future.

“She’s one of those horses that I’m kind of excited to see what she does with 60 days off,” Englehart said. “Just give her a little time and she’s going to blossom.”

Mohawk: Gucci Factor noses out Voodoo Song

Gucci Factor was unlucky when she broke horribly and finished sixth in the Ashley T. Cole last month at Belmont Park.

Saturday, Gucci Factor’s luck changed as he was able to run down the stubborn pacesetter Voodoo Song to win the $200,000 Mohawk Stakes by a nose. It was 1 1/4 lengths back to Hoboe in third.

The win was the eighth in 16 starts for Gucci Factor, a 6-year-old gelding by Gio Ponti owned by Castleton Lyons and trained by Christophe Clement, the same connections that campaigned Gio Ponti.

Clement credited Joel Rosario with getting Gucci Factor to the wire first, rallying from fourth to catch Voodoo Song.

“When he won the Poker, he did the same thing; he came seven or eight wide then won by a nose,” Clement said. “I guess he just knows the horse well, he believes in him and it works.”

Gucci Factor covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:39.51 and returned $5 as the 3-2 second choice.

Clement also credited the New York Racing Association’s gate crew, who worked with Gucci Factor since the Cole.

For Voodoo Song, it was the second straight runner-up finish. He was beaten a half-length by Dot Matrix in the Cole.

“They went fast fractions, he was passed, he just got beat by a very good horse,” said Linda Rice, trainer of Voodoo Song.