Sharp makes immediate impact

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Joe Sharp plans to have 20 horses stabled at Belmont Park this spring and summer, and if they can perform the way Aztec Brave did in Sunday’s $100,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes at Aqueduct, he will have a successful meet.

Aztec Brave scored a front-running 1 1/4-length victory in the Danger’s Hour. He is the first horse Sharp has started on this circuit since he went out on his own last fall. Sharp has worked in New York before, serving three years as an assistant to Mike Maker.

“I spent the last three years up there for Mike Maker, and I’m looking forward to being up there on my own,” said Sharp, who will split his stable between Belmont and Churchill Downs.

Aztec Brave, ridden by Manny Franco, earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, turning back a midstretch challenge from Chamois to get the victory.

Sharp scratched Aztec Brave out of Saturday’s $100,000 Henry Clark at Pimlico for this spot.

“This race set up a little better for him,” Sharp said. “He’s not a horse that has to have the lead, but if given the lead, he’s tough to get by. Franco rode him great. The horse has just continued to mentally progress and settle. He’s definitely going in the right direction.”

Sharp ran a second horse Sunday at Aqueduct, but Nile Empress could only manage a fourth-place finish in a New York-bred allowance race on turf.