Private Zone All the Way in Belmont Sprint
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Private Zone aced the $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship (gr. III) July 4 at Belmont Park, sprinting gate to wire in an easy 3 1/4-length triumph.
No worse than third in his six previous starts, Private Zone struck for his second graded stakes win of the year. He scored emphatically in the Churchill Downs Stakes (gr. II) on May 2 and was subsequently third to Honor Code after setting the pace in the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) June 6, but there was no catching him Saturday.
Private Zone lengthened stride on the turn en route to his comfortable win, leaving last year's Belmont Sprint victor Clearly Now and Stallwalkin' Dude tussling through the stretch for the runner-up spot. Clearly Now edged away in the late stages, while Stallwalkin' Dude held for third, 2 1/4 lengths back.
Keen to race out of the gate, Private Zone clocked fast opening fractions of :22.40 with Green Gratto in closest pursuit of four rivals, 3 1/2 lengths back through a half mile in :44.64. With six furlongs going in 1:09.16, Private Zone maintained his advantage to the finish line, covering seven furlongs in 1:22.57 on a fast track.
"He broke so well. He always does, he's such a good gate horse," winning rider Martin Pedroza said. "As soon as he feels the competition, he just keeps going. Usually, if I go to the (left-handed stick), he'll give me even more. But today, I didn't even have to go to the left. (Trainer) Jorge (Navarro) has done a great job because when this horse opens up on horses, he can have the tendency to wait. Today, he just took off."
Private Zone paid $2.70, $2.20, and $2.10, Clearly Now returned $3.10 and $2.50, and Stallwalkin' Dude paid 42.40 to show. Green Gratto was fourth and C. Zee finished fifth to complete the order of finish. Bay of Plenty, Moonlight Song, and The Big Beast were scratched.
The winner, a 6-year-old Macho Uno gelding who has a 9-8-3 record from 29 career starts and earnings of $2,233,120, was a $15,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase in 2010 and is campaigned by Good Friends Stable, a partnership that includes former jockey Rene Douglas. His record includes a trio of grade I wins: back-to-back editions of the Vosburgh in 2013 and 2014, and the Cigar Mile Handicap in 2014.
Canadian-bred Private Zone, whose dam is the Siphon mare Auburn Beauty, is a product of Adena Springs Ontario.