Remsen no problem for Toccet the iron horse

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Toccet had just crossed the finish line first in Saturday's Grade 2 at Aqueduct, and owner Daniel Borislow had a question.

"Have they run that race in Kentucky yet?" Borislow said, referring to the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, which was still an hour away at Churchill Downs. "Get the plane."

In Toccet, Borislow believes he has a throwback to the days when horses thrived on racing, and shunned vacation. So he was not surprised when Toccet - making his third start in five weeks - rolled to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Remsen. Bham, who dueled with Toccet early, held second, 3 1/4 lengths ahead of favored Empire Maker, who stumbled at the break.

"The reason we ran him back in this race is every Triple Crown winner in the last 30 years raced back in 14 days as a 2-year-old," Borislow said, adding that Derby-Preakness winnerSpectacular Bid ran four times in 35 days as a 2-year-old. "So, this was good experience to get him ready for three races in five weeks."

Of course, Borislow was referring to next year's Triple Crown, for which Toccet has established himself as a major player with victories in the Grade 1 Champagne and Grade 3 Laurel Futurity.

Saturday, breaking from post 3 under Jorge Chavez, Toccet dueled inside of Bham around the first turn and early on the backstretch, with the half-mile going in a rapid 46.90 seconds. Chavez then took Toccet off of Bham and guided him to the outside. Toccet drew alongside Bham approaching the five-sixteenths pole, opened a clear advantage leaving the eighth pole, and won despite taking a few funny steps near the wire.

Toccet, a son of Awesome Again, covered the nine furlongs in 1:50.40 over a fast track and returned $5.30 as the second choice.

Chavez said he wasn't concerned about the pace "because I know I have a good horse, and I knew he was going to keep going because he was in hand," Chavez said.

Added trainer John Scanlan, "I thought he was the best horse in the race, the fittest horse in the race."

Empire Maker, the 7-5 favorite, reared up in the gate, then stumbled when the doors opened and was last early. He made a bid in the middle of the race and was third entering the far turn, but tired in the stretch.

"He's got to learn to get over that stuff because that's going to cost him," Bailey said. "He's still a good horse, he ran very well in spite of everything he went through."

Title Contender, who finished seventh, ran for purse money only. Because trainer Stanley Hough owns 25 percent of Title Contender, he should have been coupled with Celtic Memories.

Roar Emotion wires Demoiselle

Roar Emotion made the lead entering the first turn and carried her speed the entire nine furlongs under John Velazquez to take the Grade 2, $200,000 by two lengths. Savedbythelight finished second, 4 1/4 lengths ahead of Feisty Step in the field of 10 2-year-old fillies.

Roar Emotion was making her first start since displacing her palate when beaten at 1-9 in a Belmont allowance race. Saturday, she was equipped with a tongue tie and a figure-eight bridle. Trainer Jose Martin was not keen on having Roar Emotion run on the front end, but after examining the field he saw no other option.

"I told Johnny as much as we hate to go a mile and an eighth on the lead after [six weeks] away, you might be forced to be on the lead," said Martin, who won his third Demoiselle. "Just ride her like you've got the best horse and hopefully she'll get you home."

Roar Emotion, sent off the second choice at 5-2, covered the nine furlongs in 1:51.43 and returned $7.80.

Fircroft, the favorite, finished fifth.