Public Sector's strong run catches Never Surprised in Hill Prince
ELMONT, N.Y. - Irad Ortiz Jr. came to the top of the stretch aboard Public Sector in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Hill Prince Stakes feeling confident he was going to win the race and was going to wait a little longer before asking his horse to run.
But Ortiz soon realized that the pacesetting Never Surprised was still going strong under Kendrick Carmouche and might not cooperate with Ortiz’s plan. So, Ortiz got busy on Public Sector and the horse responded with a strong late run to reel-in Never Surprised and win the Hill Prince for 3-year-olds by a neck. Never Surprised settled for second, 1 3/4 lengths over longshot It Can Be Done.
Hilliard, another longshot, was fourth, followed by Soldier Rising, War Bomber, Sifting Sands, Slicked Back, He’spuregold, Founder, and Original.
“That horse didn’t want to come back to me, man,” Ortiz said. “I had so much horse coming going to the quarter pole. I asked my horse a little bit, he gave me a turn of foot. I said I’m going to win, so let me bide my time. But then I realized that horse doesn’t want to come back, so I said man I’m going after him.”
Public Sector trainer Chad Brown heaped praise on Ortiz’s ride from start to finish, pointing out that he got the horse into third position early in the bulky 11-horse field, saved ground, and then made sure nobody else was coming when he sent Public Sector after Never Surprised.
“Irad was in control of the whole field, all the horses and the riders in my opinion,” Brown said. “He should be proud of this ride. It was a very skillful, experienced, focused effort by him and the horse.”
Never Surprised was his typically keen self early, but did settle down around the first turn and got away with six furlongs in 1:14.13. He had a two-length lead over It Can Be Done down the backside.
Turning for home, Never Surprised kicked away, but couldn’t hold off Public Sector, who covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.68 over firm turf and returned $8.60.
“He’s a very finicky horse, you just can’t fight with him too much, you have to let him have his way,” Carmouche said. “Today, he leaned out a little, but then he sat back underneath me. I had a perfect trip all the way around there, just got beat.”
It was the third straight stakes win for Public Sector, a son of Kingman owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables. Public Sector won the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes and the Grade 3 Saranac, both at Saratoga.
Public Sector will now be pointed to the Grade 1, $400,000 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 27. Brown and Klarman won last year’s Hollywood Derby with Domestic Spending.
For Brown, the Hill Prince was his ninth graded stakes victory in October, seven of those coming at Belmont, where there were 16 graded races run this month.
“Mr. October,” Brown joked. “I’ll take it. Anyone who’s ever been named Mr. October is doing well. I’d rather be Mr. October than Mr. April.”