Posse puts his nose in front

ELMONT, N.Y. - Closing with a furious rush under Corey Lanerie, Posse got up by a nose over odds-on favorite Midas Eyes to win the Grade 2, $200,000 at sloppy Belmont Park.

It was 6 1/4 lengths back to Halo Homewrecker in third.

It was the third straight victory and fourth in five starts for Posse, whose only loss this year came by 9 1/4 lengths to Midas Eyes in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 15.

Saturday, it looked like Midas Eyes was going to beat him again, after taking over from the pacesetting Bishop Court Hill turning for home. But, Posse, who was seventh early, advanced into contention along the rail around the turn, tipped three wide for the stretch drive and got past Midas Eyes in the shadow of the wire. Posse covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.03 and returned $8.30 as the second choice.

Lanerie said he and trainer Steve Asmussen talked about not changing Posse's late-running style despite the sloppy track, which generally favors speed.

"I saw a couple of speed horses in there and I was hoping they'd go pretty fast up front,' said Lanerie, who was riding his first mount at Belmont Park. "He broke really sharp like he always does, then he falls back a little bit. Going into the turn, I encouraged him a little bit just to make sure he was underneath me. When I called on him he exploded.'

Posse is owned by Bill Heiligbrodt, whose Lady Tak fell a head short in Friday's Grade 1 Acorn.

"This makes up for [Friday],' Heiligbrodt said.

Affirmed: Alchemilla by a nose

Alchemilla rallied from fourth position to make the lead in deep stretch and held off a hard-charging She's Got the Beat to win the $65,900 Affirmed Stakes by a nose. It was a neck back to Misty Sixes in third.

Alchemilla, a daughter of Deputy Minister trained by Shug McGaughey and owned by Helen Alexander, Helen Groves, and Dorothy Matz, covered the mile in 1:37.01 in the slop and returned $4.90 as the favorite.