Drain the Clock Runs to Odds in Bay Shore
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Drain the Clock wins the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
The April 3 stakes action at Aqueduct Racetrack kicked off when Drain the Clock solidified his 1-5 favoritism in capturing his second graded stakes race, going wire-to-wire in the $194,000 Bay Shore Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds.
The Maclean's Music chestnut colt cut back in distance for the seven-furlong sprint after finishing second in the 1 1/16-mile Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park. Earlier in the winter there, he won the Claiborne Farm Swale Stakes (G3) when sprinting seven furlongs.
An eased-up winner late, he completed the distance in 1:25.97 under Irad Ortiz Jr.
"He broke a little (slow) out of there but he put himself right away into the race and took me to the lead," said Ortiz, who returned to New York fresh off a riding title at Gulfstream. "I let him relax and then I asked him to go and he was running hard to the wire."
Whiskey Double made up considerable ground to get second, 5 3/4 lengths ahead of Too Boss in third. Beren and Garoppolo rounded out the order of finish.
Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig, Drain the Clock ($2.70) improved his record to 5-1-0 from seven starts.
The victory was the first graded stakes win in New York for Florida-based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who will have a string at Belmont Park this summer for the first time.
"I thought he kicked away well at the top of the lane and did what he had to do. If you ease up on him, he's going to relax," Joseph said.
The $400,000 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) June 5 at Belmont and the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course are upcoming races under consideration for the talented colt.
"The Woody Stephens and Allen Jerkens are the types of races you want to be in. If we could win one it would be nice, if we could win both it would be great," Joseph said
Bred in Kentucky by Nick Cosato of Slam Dunk Racing, Drain the Clock is the first stakes winner for the Arch mare Manki , though one of her other two-winning foals, Amazing Audrey , is a $225,408 earner. The mare produced a Mineshaft colt last year and was bred to Vino Rosso for 2021.
Video: Bay Shore S. (G3)
Modernist Bests Veterans in Excelsior
Pam and Martin Wygod's homebred Modernist pressed the pace and pounced to a 2 1/2-length victory in Saturday's $150,000 Excelsior Stakes (G3), a nine-furlong test for older horses at Aqueduct.
Trained by Bill Mott and piloted by Junior Alvarado, the 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt prevailed as the youngest horse in a field of six veteran routers.
The complexion of the race changed when Chester and Mary Broman's New York homebred Mr. Buff , the 4-5 morning line favorite, was scratched Saturday morning after receiving treatment for colic symptoms.
"He had a little colic," trainer John Kimmel said. "He's fine now and acting like nothing ever happened. It's nothing serious but it was unfortunate timing."
Kimmel said the 7-year-old Mr. Buff, a 17-time winner with more than $1.3 million in purse earnings, will target the May 1 Westchester Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.
Backsideofthemoon took command into the first turn in the Excelsior as Modernist, Limonite , and Tintoretto jostled for position behind the pacesetter through an opening quarter-mile in :25.54. Modernist pressed the pace from second down the backstretch as Backsideofthemoon clung stubbornly to a diminishing lead. The modest pace battle continued into the final turn as the tightly-packed group began to come alive with Grumps Little Tots launching an outside bid and Haikal following his run.
Modernist was asked for his best late in the turn and took the lead as a rail-riding Limonite waited for racing room with Haikal looming large on the outside. Inside the final eighth-mile, Modernist surged clear and powered through the wire in a final time of 1:54.38 on the fast main track.
Modernist wins the Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Haikal completed the exacta by 3 3/4 lengths over Limonite. Rounding out the order of finish were Backsideofthemoon, Grumps Little Tots, and Tintoretto.
Alvarado said the scratch of Mr. Buff meant he would utilize a more prominent approach with Modernist.
"I knew whatever would happen at the gate, I had to be a little more aggressive and forwardly placed," said Alvarado. " Even though we had a slow break, I had to use him a little to put myself in that position, and I think that helped."
Alvarado said he was confident throughout aboard Modernist ($5.30), who entered the Excelsior from a second in the 1 1/16-mile $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes (G3) March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.
"He helped me get my position in the first turn and after that I was just a passenger," said Alvarado. "I was just waiting to turn for home to ask him and he kicked on very nicely.
"At the quarter-pole, when I asked him to run, he picked it up so quickly that he didn't even have a chance to switch leads. Then, I felt him running faster and I didn't want to badger him to switch leads until we passed the eighth pole. I pulled a little on my inside reins and then he switched leads and kept on. Nothing to be worried about."
Mott's New York-based assistant Leana Willaford said she was pleased with the confident ride.
"We told Junior, 'Don't take anything away coming easy,'" said Willaford. "I was really happy with (Modernist). He's matured both physically and mentally. I think he's going to have a good year."
Modernist improved his record to 3-1-2 in nine starts and pushed his earnings to $520,300.
A Kentucky-bred, his is the only foal out of the Bernardini mare Symbolic Gesture.