Dynamic One Edges First Captain in Suburban
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Dynamic One (outside) wins the Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park
For Dynamic One , it was a tale of two New York stakes.
Back in 2021, the son of Union Rags seemed to be headed to victory in deep stretch of the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2), but then the recent maiden winner snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when he idled and let 72-1 shot Bourbonic beat him by a head in a 1-2 finish for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Fast forward 15 months to July 9 and the $388,000 Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, Dynamic One once again turned for home with a strong burst and appeared poised to blow past the dueling leaders, First Captain and Untreated . Then, much like the Wood, once Dynamic One grabbed the lead, he began running in tandem with his rivals rather than pulling away.
It looked like déjà vu, but this time an older and more experienced Dynamic One persevered. While his momentum was quelled, his desire was unquenched as he engaged in a duel to the wire with First Captain before prevailing by a nose in the 1 1/4-mile stakes.
"That's always been a concern with him," Pletcher said about the 4-year-old's penchant for accompanying his rivals to the finish. "(Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.) got him revved up and maybe got there a little sooner than he wanted to, but I think the second- and third-place finishers fought back hard."
As much as there might have been some images of the Wood, it was a different sensation for Pletcher's nerves since he trained only one of the two horses battling to the wire.
"The Wood was totally different. It was our own horse (that caught Dynamic One)," Pletcher said. "(Today) I was concerned. I didn't think we got the best head bob. I thought we were head in front right before the wire but First Captain got a good head bob. Thankfully he held on."
Owned by Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable and bred by the Phipps Stable, Dynamic One registered his first graded score win Saturday after placing in three graded stakes and winning the restricted Curlin Stakes and listed Blame Stakes. Bought for $725,000 by Repole Stable and St. Elias from the Claiborne Farm at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, he increased his earnings to $699,950 while continuing a solid 2022 campaign that has featured a win in the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, a second in the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, and a third in the Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs.
Irad Ortiz Jr. shares a moment with Dynamic One
"He's getting a little better all the time," Pletcher said. "He got kind of a tough race first time back at Tampa. He made a move forward at Keeneland and then put together probably his most professional race last time in the Blame and it seems like he keeps getting a little better and is starting to figure things out. He's a horse we always had high hopes for."
Pletcher had two entrants among the five starters in the Suburban as he also sent out Team Valor International's Untreated. The son of Nyquist set the pace from the rail, leading by a length after a half-mile in :49.39. The tempo picked up considerably after that, as First Captain, the last-out winner of the Pimlico Special Handicap (G3), joined him and stuck a head in front after a mile in 1:37.49.
Dynamic One joined the fray from the outside in the stretch and at the eighth pole, they were three across the track with Dynamic One a head in front of First Captain, who was a head in front of Untreated.
From there it became a duel between the 4-5 favorite and 9-5 second choice First Captain that went to Dynamic One in 2:01.26 for the mile and a quarter. The winner returned $3.80 for a $2 wager.
"When he made the lead, he waited a little bit and then he fought back," Ortiz said. "We always liked him, but he could do some things that were a little green out there. I think the last three times (he ran), he's started to figure it out.
First Captain, a son of Curlin owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay, and Woodford Racing, was three-quarters of a length ahead of Untreated.
"I thought he ran awfully good. It was a helluva race. I can't be disappointed except that he lost," trainer Shug McGaughey said.
Both Dynamic One and First Captain are expected to meet again at 1 1/4 miles Sept. 3 in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), which beginning last year was moved from Belmont to Saratoga Race Course.
Out of the Smart Strike mare Beat the Drums , Dynamic One is only one of her four foals of racing age. She has also a yearling Ghostzapper colt and a Street Sense filly born earlier this year.