Olympico relishes soft going in Fort Marcy Stakes

South American import Robert Bruce, the 3-5 favorite Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy Stakes, wanted no part of the soft Belmont Park turf course. His 18-1 Chad Brown-trained stablemate Olympico did. Olympico, making his first start since being imported from France, rolled home from the back of the field under Kendrick Carmouche, making the lead at the sixteenth-pole and going on to a three-length victory.

Pacesetting second-choice Dr. Edgar held second by a nose over 49-1 shot Cullum Road, who was a nose better than Channel Cat. Two lengths farther back came Robert Bruce, who led briefly in upper stretch but has shown no ability to produce his standard turn of foot over rain-soaked going.

Four-year-old Olympico is the latest in a long line of French imports to immediately prosper in the Brown barn. This was a listed-stakes level horse in France last year, when he made 12 starts, but in his last four races over soft ground he had won twice and finished second in another race, and Olympico loved the going Saturday.

Olympico tossed his head at the start and was away slowly, winding up at the rear of an eight-horse field after having led in several of his starts last season. That didn’t bother him a bit. Dr. Edgar, with Robert Bruce hemmed along the fence to his inside, went a half-mile in 50.09 seconds and three-quarters in 1:15.16, by which time Carmouche had his mount geared up for a stretch run. Carmouche might have swung to the far outside but instead wisely chose a passage between horses, and Olympico, going much better than anyone else, swooped to the front and never looked back.

Olympico paid $39.20, a massive return on a Brown turf runner in New York and was timed in 1:53.92 for 1 1/8 miles over the very laboring going. Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stable, and Bethlehem Stables own Olympico, a gelded 4-year-old son of Rajsaman and Carmel, by Highest Honor.