Three races worth watching on closing day
ELMONT, N.Y. – Closing day at Belmont Park on Sunday includes a maiden race billed as a stakes, a stakes disguised as an allowance race, and a jockeys race that could go down to the 509th and final contest of the meeting.
The $125,000 Rockville Centre Stakes drew six New York-bred juvenile colts, including five maidens, three of them making their career debuts. International Star is the only winner in the field, but that victory came on turf. The Rockville Centre is scheduled for six furlongs on dirt.
Bustin It, a son of Bustin Stones, finished second behind the 1-9 favorite Nonna’s Boy in an open-company maiden race here June 13. Michael Mareina, the trainer of Bustin It, said he ran in that race because he couldn’t find a New York-bred maiden race to fill, and he wanted to get a race in his colt before this one.
Mareina said he was happy with the performance, noting that jockey Rajiv Maragh didn’t “beat him up” in the race.
“He hung in with him till the eighth pole, and when it was clear he would be second, he let him coast in,” Mareina said.
Mareina said Bustin It had a fever coming out of the race and missed three or four days of training. But he got two breezes into Bustin It, including a bullet half-mile in the mud in 47.40 seconds over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga.
Mareina believes this race boils down to his horse and International Star.
International Star, a son of Fusaichi Pegasus, galloped to a 5 1/2-length victory in an open-company turf maiden race June 21, running six furlongs in 1:09.06. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 73. Joe Sharp, the assistant to trainer Mike Maker, said International Star ran on the turf, in part, because that was the only race that filled.
“I think he’ll be fine on the dirt,” Sharp said. “Based on his works, he shouldn’t have any problem handling it. We liked him a lot. Obviously, you never expect them to run away and hide like that. Saying that, we expected him to run well first time out, and he did.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: International Star – Trainer Mike Maker is 0 for 6 (with only one in the money) over the past two years moving two-year-olds from turf to dirt surfaces.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Among the firsters is Elusive New Yorker, a half-brother to the New York-bred millionaire Naughty New Yorker. Elusive New Yorker was purchased for $200,000 by Two Tone Farms and is trained by David Cannizzo.
Essence At Noon was scratched out of a six-furlong turf race Friday to run in this spot. Midnight Nick and Cosmo Storm complete the field.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Elusive New Yorker - Trainer David Cannizzo is 2 for 10 with a $7.56 ROI over the past two years with debuting two-year-old in sprints.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
In Sunday’s eighth, a $75,000 turf allowance for New York-breds, veterans Compliance Officer and Lubash face each other for the 10th time. Lubash has finished in front of Compliance Officer the last six times they’ve met, but Compliance Officer comes off a solid allowance win here June 14.
“If he can rate and make that one run like he did, we should be in good shape,” said Bruce Brown, the trainer of Compliance Officer. “He came out of that last race super.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Compliance Officer – Has lost his last eight starts on a firm turf surface; last win on firm turf was December 2011.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Lubash has not run since finishing second in the Kingston Stakes on May 31, a race in which Compliance Officer ran fourth. Sunday’s race also includes Notacatbutallama, Front, Mr. Vegas, Barrel of Love, and Smooth Bert.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Lubash – Consistent runner has not registered a Beyer speed figure below 90 on firm turf since 2012 (8 starts).Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Smooth Bert – Trainer Leah Gyarmati is 0 for 29 (with only 3 in the money) over the past five years with all runners trying turf for the first time. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
◗ Javier Castellano entered Friday’s card with a 50-48 lead over Irad Ortiz in the jockeys’ standings. But Ortiz was named on 15 mounts to Castellano’s five over the final three days, as Castellano was at Delaware Park on Saturday. Castellano’s lone mount Sunday is in the ninth and final race on Fancy Boss. Ortiz, who has just three mounts Sunday, rides Invading Humor in that race.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Race 2: No. 7 The Lady's Cruisen – Over the past five years, trainer Linda Rice is 5 for 23 ($3.55 ROI, 10 ITM) with horses making their second career starts in state-bred maiden special weight turf sprints. Click for more details. – Matt Bernier