Social Paranoia gets up late to win Poker

ELMONT, N.Y. - Social Paranoia made a pretty good argument that a mile could well be his preferred distance after rallying to a one-length victory over Seismic Wave in Saturday’s $150,000 Poker at Belmont Park. Value Proposition, the 5-2 favorite, finished third.

Social Paranoia turned back to a mile to register a last-to-first win in the Grade 3 Appleton this past spring at Gulfstream Park and now is 2 for 2 at that distance after using a similar modus operandi to capture the Grade 3 Poker.

With Jose Ortiz aboard, Social Paranoia settled near the rear of the eight-horse field off a relatively slow pace set by Dream Friend and prompted by Got Stormy. Value Proposition, three wide, and Seismic Wave, four wide, were first to make a move, engaging the leaders on the final bend only to be repulsed at that point.

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Got Stormy eventually emerged with a clear lead through the furlong grounds, but Social Paranoia was full of run on the extreme outside and outfinished a resurgent Seismic Wave to win going away. It was another 1 3/4 lengths farther back to Value Proposition, who was jostled briefly by Hawkish between horses at midstretch.

Got Stormy weakened late to finish fourth, followed by Dream Friend, Hawkish, who had to steady between horses inside the sixteenth pole, Eons, and Valid Point.

Social Paranoia is a son of Street Boss owned by The Elkstone Group and trained by Todd Pletcher. He completed a mile over a firm course in 1:36.30 and returned $11.80 for his fourth win in 15 lifetime starts. He earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, tied for his lifetime best.

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Social Paranoia was coming off a sixth-place finish after being closer to the pace than usual in the Ft. Marcy a month ago at Belmont Park. In the Poker, Social Paranoia dropped back to his usual spot.

“I thought we were a tick further back than I thought we’d be and they were going a tick slower than I was hoping they would,” Pletcher said when asked his thoughts as the race unfolded. “I felt we made a tactical mistake in his last start by trying to use him a little bit to get position from the outside post going a mile and one-eighth. He kind of showed us the first time back at Gulfstream that he wanted to take back and make one run. And Jose executed the game plan real well. It was a good performance.”

Citing Social Paranoia’s wins in the Appleton and Poker, Pletcher said one mile would likely be the distance of choice for him as the summer progresses.

Pletcher mentioned the Grade 1 Fourstardave as a possible objective for Social Paranoia at Saratoga.