Realm ($27.20) edges Kurilov in Alydar Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The two things jockey Junior Alvarado has learned about Realm is that he doesn’t like to be inside of horses, and when it’s time to go he has to be ridden hard.

Racing down inside for most of the backstretch run in Sunday’s $100,000 Alydar Stakes at Saratoga, Alvarado gradually worked Realm to the outside turning for home. Though still last of five at the eighth pole, Alvarado got down on his belly and rode Realm hard to the wire, getting up in the final jump to beat Kurilov by a head.

Sent off the rank outsider at 12-1 in the five-horse field, Realm returned $27.20 to win, helping to trigger a pick-6 carryover of $84,509 into Monday’s card.

Kurilov, the 9-5 second choice, finished second by a length over Patch. Timeline, the 8-5 favorite, was fourth, four lengths clear of Outplay.

Realm, who gave trainer Barclay Tagg his second straight winner on the card, was coming off a second-level allowance win against just three other horses at Belmont on June 29. That day, he pressed the pace from the outside.

On Sunday, he was facing just four rivals - two trained by Chad Brown, two trained by Todd Pletcher. Alvarado said Realm broke sharply, but he was outfooted to the lead by Outplay, who had won last year’s Curlin Stakes here on the lead.

Alvarado said Realm was okay on the inside until the field turned down the backside, where he had Timeline, under Javier Castellano, to his outside.

“I can feel that he’s not happy, I didn’t want to panic, I didn’t want to rush him to go a little more in front,” Alvarado said. “I trusted him and tried to be a little patient with him and wait a little longer to find my way out.”

Alvarado started to move Realm to the outside at the three-furlong marker.

Meanwhile, Kurilov, under Irad Ortiz Jr, was just about to take over from Outplay in upper stretch. Kurilov had a two-length lead in midstretch, but Realm kept coming

“I was very excited turning for home just to finish second because I thought second was a great race,” Alvarado said. “I got to the wire, I knew I had him. At the sixteenth pole I was riding to win but I thought it was going to be very hard to catch him.”

Tagg said Alvarado rode Realm “nice and coolly. If he’s not in front, you got to get him to the outside. But you don’t want to do it too early and lose all that ground. He just rode him perfectly.”

Realm, a 5-year-old gelding by Haynesfield owned by Tagg, Harry Astarita, and Eric Dattner, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.02.
Ortiz said Kurilov lugged in during the stretch run or he thought he would have held on.

“I don’t think the rail is really good right now, I don’t want to be on the rail, but he didn’t help me,” Ortiz said. “If I could have stayed in the three path he would have won.”