Recount scores for DeVito in Arlington-Washington Futurity
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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – “Seconditis,” trainer Jim DiVito said, shaking his head as the horses left the paddock for the Grade 3, $125,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity. “All meet long.”
DiVito came into Saturday’s races with 19 places compared to nine wins at the Arlington meeting. And at the top of the stretch, he saw it happening all over again. The DiVito-trained Recount had the lead, but Private Prospect and One Go All Go were hot on his heels, poised to pass.
“No, not again,” DiVito muttered to himself.
But this time, DiVito won the photo. With One Go All Go and Private Prospect bumping and weaving through the stretch, Recount stayed on and stayed on, capturing the Futurity by a head. Private Prospect edged One Go All Go by the same margin in a three-horse photo.
Recount, an Illinois-bred owned by Doubledown Stables, gave DiVito – one of Arlington’s top 2-year-old trainers the last several years – his first win in the Futurity. The gelding, by Limehouse, also provided jockey Manny Esquivel, Arlington’s leading rider as an apprentice during the 2013 meet, with his first local stakes win and his first win in a graded stakes.
Recount made the early lead in the Futurity, setting honest splits of 23.13 seconds and 46.67 with Private Prospect, unbeaten in three starts, pressing the pace. Behind them and on the rail, One Go All Go raced in the pocket, somewhat rank but clearly on the bit, and at the top of the stretch, as Tim Thornton wheeled him out for a three-wide run, One Go All Go looked like the winner. But instead of kicking on, he tried to body-check Private Prospect, both horses losing precious momentum as they raced erratically through mid-stretch.
Meanwhile, Recount, Esquivel said, had found what he had been looking for: a fight. Private Prospect might have pushed his head in front for a moment, but Recount battled back in the final furlong to score a game victory.
“He waits on horses,” Esquivel said. “As soon as the other horses came to him, he jumped. I had a lot of horse all the way around.”
And DiVito, this time, had a winner, not a close call. Recount, the favorite, paid $5.80 to win. He was timed in 1:24.25 for seven furlongs on Polytrack, while behind One Go All Go came Bourbon Cowboy, Ike Walker, Seraph – who broke slowly and spotted the rest of the field several lengths – and Mr Lightning Boy.