National Identity looks to take another step forward
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After suffering three heartbreaking stakes defeats early in his career, National Identity returned from a five-month layoff in September to shake an unlucky reputation. The 3-year-old colt dusted a statebred allowance field by five lengths and will take the next step in the third race on Thursday at Aqueduct, an $82,000 allowance for nonwinners of two.
“He’s doing really, really good, and right now, we’re kind of staying in our lane,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “He ran impressive [on Sept. 20]. Flavien [Prat] gave him a perfect ride, sat on him patiently and when he asked him to go, he went. So we’ll get Kendrick [Carmouche] to just sit on him and try to do the same thing.”
In three straight New York-bred stakes between December and March, National Identity had to settle for second in losing photo finishes. The first of these defeats came by a head in the $500,000 New York Stallion Series at the end of his juvenile campaign. In the $125,000 Gander in March, he finished ahead of future graded stakes winner Mo Plex, but came up short by a nose against 6-1 outsider Soontobeking.
“For the New York-sired horses, that’s their” Kentucky Derby, Gargan said. “You know, that $500,000 race is their Derby and those couple stakes right there in a row. So you have to be ready to run on those days and you have to get lucky. Obviously, we would have loved one as a big purse. But he’s a cool horse, and he’s already paid for himself.”
Gargan always planned to give his colt time off in order to give him a tie-back procedure, which corrects paralysis in a horse’s larynx in order to widen their airway. After a distant third in a $200,000 stakes in April, Gargan saw a window.
“He had a tie-back, and it seems to have helped him,” Gargan said. “He’s come back better than he was last year. We would have done the tie-back sooner, but he was running so good.”
After taking the entire summer to recover from the procedure, National Identity returned in September as the 3-5 favorite in allowance company. It was his first race against older rivals, though there were only two in the field of six, and he kicked away to win easily. Gargan said that he considered the performance to be one of the best of his career.
The waters will get deeper for the Solomini colt on Thursday, but after earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure in his win last month, he remains a strong contender in the field of seven going 6 1/2 furlongs. In seven career starts, all between six furlongs and a mile on the dirt at Aqueduct, he has never finished worse than third.
What’s Up Bro, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Ray Handal, could be a far more dangerous older runner than those National Identity took down last time out. Claimed in each of his last two starts at Saratoga, he has not run since tiring in a 15 1/4-length defeat on Aug. 30. He won his two prior allowance starts with matching 89 Beyers.
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