'Paradise' finds track to his liking

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Gary Mandella always wanted to run Taste of Paradise at Belmont Park, he just couldn't find the right time or spot. Saturday, he finally found it.

Unleashing a powerful stretch kick under Garrett Gomez, Taste of Paradise drew clear to a two-length victory in the Grade 1, $500,000 to earn a spot in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint here on Oct. 29.

Tiger Heart rallied to be second, a neck ahead of Lion Tamer, who finished a head in front of Silver Wagon. Pomeroy, the 9-5 favorite along with entrymate Lion Tamer, finished a well-beaten eighth after encountering trouble at the start and in the stretch.

Taste of Paradise, a 6-year-old son of Conquistador Cielo, won for the first time since last December's Vernon Underwood Handicap at Hollywood Park. He was winless in six starts this year, but Mandella felt that his horse didn't suit the tracks he was running over.

Mandella believed that Taste of Paradise, a long-striding closer with "problematic" feet, would relish Belmont's wider turns.

"We've been wanting to run him here in some race somewhere, something that made sense timingwise for him and for his feet that are little bit problematic," Mandella said. "This was the race where everything came up right."

With Pomeroy pinched at the break, Uncle Camie got loose on the lead but ran fractions of 21.96 seconds and 44.48. Taste of Paradise was eighth early, and turning for home, Gomez had thought about swinging him outside. Instead, he split horses in upper stretch, found room to get to the outside at the eighth pole, and outkicked Tiger Heart, who had taken a short lead in upper stretch.

Taste of Paradise, owned by David Bloom, covered six furlongs in 1:08.82 and returned $55 as the longest shot on the board.

Because he wants to monitor Taste of Paradise's feet, Mandella will ship the horse back to Southern California and train for the Breeders' Cup there.

Joe Bravo, the jockey of Pomeroy, said his horse was not only bothered out of the gate, but also in the stretch when he thought he still had a chance to win the race.

"Turning for home I'm a length off the winner and I'm running with him like I've got him no problem, and we got shut off again," Bravo said.