Jack and Noah Wires the Sir Cat Stakes at Belmont
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Jack and Noah crosses the finish line to win the Sir Cat at Belmont Park
Gary Barber's Jack and Noah returned to the site of his debut win in September, setting fast fractions and finishing strong for a gate-to-wire victory in the $80,000 Sir Cat Stakes June 19 at Belmont Park.
The French-bred Bated Breath colt led the seven-horse field of sophomores through an opening quarter-mile in :21.57 and a half in :43.84 on the firm inner turf course, with Turned Aside in close pursuit.
Under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, Jack and Noah held his edge into the stretch and didn't back down when Turned Aside applied pressure from the outside, hitting the wire in 1:07.05 and coming close to Tombelaine's course record of 1:06.74 set in June 2018. He won the six-furlong test by a length.
Jack and Noah, who won the Atlantic Beach Stakes in November at Aqueduct Racetrack for trainer Mark Casse, is 3-for-4 on New York Racing Association tracks.
"I worked him as a 2-year-old and thought, 'Man, this is a nice horse. Who the heck is this?''" Velazquez said. "I was told I could ride him in a couple weeks. A couple weeks? One year later. I went out of town to ride and never saw the horse again. It was worth the wait.
"We knew he was quick, but I didn't know he was going to open up like that. I tried to settle him the best I could. I spoke to Mark yesterday, and he said to just let him do his thing and try for a little give-and-take in the first part but don't take too much of a hold of him, and he was right. That is his type of race; just let them come and get him."
In his previous race, Jack and Noah ran second to Sir Cat rival Chimney Rock in a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint May 17 at Churchill Downs. He turned the tables Friday, improving to 3-1-0 in six starts.
"If he's right, he can get the three-quarters, and he did that," Casse assistant Jamie Begg said. "He was pretty relaxed up front, and he was happy. Nobody really pressed him, so it worked out well for us. He galloped out huge. It was a pretty nice performance. He just has God-given speed, so everything that we do with him is just to try and make him relax as much as possible."
Off at 2-1, Jack and Noah returned $6.10 on a $2 win wager. He improved his earnings to $165,550.
Turned Aside, trained by Linda Rice, bested Old Chestnut by one length for second.
Maxwell Esquire, Guildsman, 2-1 favorite Chimney Rock, and So Street completed the order of finish.