Forza Di Oro Draws Clear to Take Discovery Stakes
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Forza Di Oro wins the Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Trainer Bill Mott first saw a world of potential in Don Alberto Stable's homebred Forza Di Oro when the son of Speightstown was a 2-year-old. It just took a year to bring all of it out.
Well regarded enough to be sent off at 5-1 in last December's Remsen Stakes (G2) off a maiden win, Forza Di Oro showed what all the fuss was about a year ago when he pulled away in the stretch and recorded an impressive 3 3/4-length victory over favored Monday Morning Qb in the $97,000 Discovery Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds Nov. 28 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"We always thought he could be a graded stakes winner, and we thought it might happen in the Remsen, but he got banged up a bit and we had to give him some time off," Mott said. "But he's come back real well."
It was a maiden win at 1 1/16 miles that propelled Forza Di Oro into the Remsen, but he had a rough trip while never entering contention and faded to eighth, beaten by 24 1/4 lengths.
Forza Di Oro wins the Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
"He was a little jammed up behind, but we gave him some time and he seems fine now," Mott said.
When he returned from a 10-month break, Forza Di Oro faced older rivals in an Oct. 9 allowance race and posted a neck victory in a fast 1:41.08 for the 1 1/16 miles that served notice he was back in top form. His big effort in the Discovery over four rivals confirmed that and signaled there could be a highly productive 4-year-old season awaiting him in 2021.
Mott said Forza Di Oro will spend the winter in Florida and did not rule out taking a look at the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.
"A win like this will make you think about it," Mott said about the Pegasus. "There have been quite a few good horses who have been put on the shelf or retired."
The Discovery, the final graded stakes of the year in New York strictly for 3-year-olds, attracted only five starters but was seen by the betting public as a wide-open affair with four of the starters priced between 9-5 and 3-1.
Cash Is King and LC Racing's Monday Morning Qb was sent off as the favorite and rushed to the front after a somewhat slow break in the 1 1/8-mile stakes, leading by a length through fractions of :47.53 and 1:11.87.
After breaking from post 3, jockey Junior Alvarado kept Forza Di Oro on the rail in third, patiently waiting for the right moment, which came at the three-sixteenths pole when he tipped the chestnut colt outside of Monday Morning Qb and ran past him like a speedy wide receiver heading for the end zone.
Video: Discovery S. (G3)
"He put me in the spot where we wanted to be. I was a passenger the whole way around. He was just waiting for me to give him the green light," Alvarado said. "He came back very strong this year. Mentally, he still hasn't caught up with his body. He's a big guy with a nice, long stride, but I think mentally, he still has to put it together."
Forza Di Oro ($8.30) was timed in 1:50.03 while improving his record to three wins in five starts with earnings of $148,875.
A half-brother to three-time grade 3 winner Silver Dust, he is the second graded stakes winner for his dam, the Hard Spun mare Filare l'Oro, from her three foals to race.
Monday Morning Qb, a Maryland-bred Imagining colt trained by Butch Reid, held second by 1 1/2 lengths over Goldolphin's multiple grade 3 winner Shared Sense, a son of Street Sense trained by Brad Cox. Shared Sense trailed behind the modest tempo and flattened out after launching a wide rally in contention leaving the second turn.
Never Surprised, Turned Aside Score in Supporting $100,000 Stakes
In ungraded stakes on turf that followed the Discovery on Saturday, Never Surprised ($6.50) led throughout in the $100,000 Central Park Stakes to improve to 2-for-2, and Turned Aside ($12) won the $100,000 Aqueduct Sprint Championship Stakes.
Never Surprised takes the Central Park Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Repole Stable's Never Surprised, coming off a debut win in a six-furlong turf race, flashed speed stretching out to 1 1/16 miles and was never seriously challenged. The Todd Pletcher trainee crossed the wire 1 3/4 lengths in front of runner-up Hard Love, who finished 10 lengths ahead of show finisher Take Profit in a strung-out field. A son of Constitution , Never Surprised was timed in 1:43.74 on a good course with Kendrick Carmouche up.
The start of the race was eventful when 93-1 longshot Counterfeitcurency unseated jockey Mike Luzzi and ran riderless without incident thereafter. Luzzi appeared to escape serious injury but was removed from his remaining mounts.
Video: Central Park S. (BT)
Turned Aside outran El Tormenta, True Valour, and Therapist to take the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. He won by 1 1/4 lengths under Jose Lezcano, finishing six furlongs in 1:10.89. A 3-year-old son of American Pharoah , Turned Aside races for the estate of Paul Pompa Jr. and is trained by Linda Rice.