Pat On the Back edges clear late in Affirmed Success

Pat On the Back had an excellent summer and fall campaign in 2018, winning the $314,000 Empire Classic despite taking a terrible stumble at the start and the Saginaw Stakes in July. On Friday, opening day of the Belmont spring meet, Pat on the Back served notice he will once again be a major player in the New York-bred division by closing from well off the pace to win the six-furlong Affirmed Success.

The six-furlong distance of the $100,000 Affirmed Success is shorter than optimum for Pat On the Back but this is the second consecutive year he has run well in the race. In 2018, he closed ground in the stretch to finish second by three-quarters of a length to Eye Luv Lulu, who on Friday held the lead in the final sixteenth of a mile before having to settle for second.

The Affirmed Success was contested over a sloppy and sealed track. The early fractions were blazing and eventually took a toll on the front-runners in the six-horse field, who were noticeably tired at the finish.

Sudden Surprise set the pace on a short lead inside Eye Luv Lulu with Bavaro and 2-1 favorite Syndergaard racing just off them. Following an opening quarter-mile in 21.88 seconds, Bavaro moved up to challenge three wide nearing the quarter pole.

The half-mile went in 44.92, with Pat on the Back at least five lengths back under jockey Dylan Davis.

Sudden Surprise and Eye Luv Lulu continued to battle into the final furlong but were clearly beginning to tire. Eye Luv Lulu took a short lead in midstretch but Pat On the Back was starting to roll and ran by the leaders from the inside to score by 1 1/4 lengths.

The final furlong of the Affirmed Success went in a slow 13.36 seconds.

"He surged in the stretch," Davis said. "He knows where the wire is. I think we're going to have a great year with him. His best distance is probably seven furlongs to a mile."

Pat On the Back paid $8.50 as the second betting choice while timed in 1:10.75.

It was a length back from Eye Luv Lulu to Syndergaard in third. Syndergaard was never far back during the race but really didn’t kick into gear over the wet going.

Sudden Surprise finished a neck behind Syndergaard and held fourth by three-quarters of a length over Bavaro, who was expected to be part of the pace, but broke outward at the start and ended up tracking the leaders.

Celtic Chaos, who won the Affirmed Success in 2017, was sluggish to get into stride when the gates opened and trailed throughout.

The Affirmed Success was Pat On the Back's first race since he finished fifth in the Cigar Mile on Dec 1. He can be expected to stretch out in his next start, which is scheduled to come in the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day.

Now 5, Pat On the Back was turned over to Jeremiah Englehart after being trained for his first 17 starts by Ken McPeek. The son of Congrats is now 7 for 23 in his career with six stakes wins and more than $814,000 in earnings. Campaigned by the partnership of Harold Lerner, Nehoc Stables, and AWC Stables, the horse has three wins and two seconds in six starts for Englehart.