Plainsman proves best in Discovery

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Plainsman continued his ascent while Gronkowski continued his descent in the 3-year-old division.

Plainsman, put on the lead by Joel Rosario entering the first turn, surrendered it briefly down the backstretch before taking control on the second turn and drawing off to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Discovery Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Title Ready beat Gronkowski, the Belmont Stakes runner-up, by a half-length for second. It was 14 1/4 lengths back to Bon Raison, who finished last of four.

Bal Harbour, Life’s a Parlay, and Roaming Union – who ran 1-2-3 in Friday’s off-the-turf Gio Ponti Stakes here – all scratched.

The win was the third straight and first in a stakes for Plainsman, a son of Flatter owned by John Ed Anthony’s Shortleaf Stable and trained by Brad Cox.

“He likes the NYRA circuit. He’s performed very well since we took him on in late summer,” said Cox, who credited his New York-based assistant, Dustin Dugas, for his work with the horse. “I’m happy for Mr. John Ed Anthony.”

Plainsman outsprinted Bon Raison to the lead and had a one-length lead over that rival through a quarter of 24.53 seconds. With the pace slowing down the backside, Bon Raison, Title Ready, and Gronkowski lined up across the track, with Bon Raison putting a head in front after a half-mile in 50.08.

Rosario said he was content to sit.

“I just wanted to hold my spot,” Rosario said. “He was comfortable; he didn’t mind the other horses being around him.”

Approaching the three-furlong pole, Rosario asked Plainsman to go, and he opened up about a two-length lead approaching the top of the stretch. He basically maintained that margin to the wire.

Plainsman covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.14 over a fast track and returned $3.80 as the favorite.

“He kept on grinding it out, going forward,” Rosario said. “I felt pretty good on the turn when he took off.”

Meanwhile, Gronkowski turned in his third straight disappointing performance since his runner-up finish to Justify in the Belmont Stakes. Jose Ortiz moved Gronkowski four wide into contention down the backside, took him back off the pace to save ground, and tried to rally along the rail, but he had no real kick and was outfinished by Title Ready for second.

“It was kind of a weird trip, but in the end, he just wasn’t good enough,” trainer Chad Brown said.

Despite his success on the NYRA circuit, Plainsman will likely head to Oaklawn to for the winter for that track’s series of races for older males in 2019, ending with the Oaklawn Handicap in April.

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