Up the Ante Gets His Way in Manila
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Up the Ante takes the Manila Stakes at Belmont Park
It's not a theft if a party willingly hands over the item in question. So with no other challengers pushing the issue up front in the July 4 Manila Stakes at Belmont Park, Up the Ante took what was given to him and ran off with the goods.
The 3-year-old son of Smart Strike was allowed the walk the dog on the front end all the way into the winner's circle Wednesday, posting a gate-to-wire 3 1/2-length victory over heavily favored Raging Bull in the $100,000 Manila Stakes going one mile on the turf.
Up the Ante has been an improving member of trainer Christophe Clement's barn in the last couple months. After starting his season April 7 with a ninth-place finish in a seven-furlong allowance race on the dirt at Keeneland, the Castleton Lyons homebred returned to the lawn and got himself back on track with a May 10 allowance win at Belmont.
He warmed up for the Manila with a runner-up finish in the June 13 Stanton Stakes at Delaware Park, and when he got away with setting fractions of :24.31 and :48.79 under jockey Javier Castellano Wednesday, Clement figured his charge would have to have a serious off day in order to not capitalize on such an opportunity.
"I was very happy with Castellano's plan," Clement said. "He tried to steal the race in front and it worked. Having said that, I don't really know if he stole it, because when he opened up, he really opened up, and he was very impressive.
"The turf was a touch on the soft side the last time he ran at Delaware and I'm completely happy with how he ran today."
As Up the Ante was going along under his own power with Hangman tracking second about a length behind, 2-5 favorite Raging Bull was at the back of the six-horse field and at the mercy of the tepid fractions. The Chad Brown trainee still had five horses in front of him coming into the top of the stretch, and though he swung out wide to make an admirable rally, Castellano was enjoying a handy ride the wire.
"I thought there was going to be more speed in the race but my horse, pushing out of the gate, wanted to dictate the pace," Castellano said. "I didn't want to take away anything because he's easy. I let him go with the flow and he did the first quarter nice and easy. I think that was the key to win the race. I really liked the way he finished."
Westerland got up for third with Factor This, Sea Foam, and Hangman completing the order of finish.
Sent off at odds of 5-1, Up the Ante covered the eight furlongs in 1:35.42 over a course rated firm to earn his third win from six starts. He was bred in the name of Shane Ryan's Castleton Lyons and Kilboy Estates—the Ryan family's sister farm in Tipperary, Ireland—out the Speightstown mare Ask Me When, and improved his earnings to $159,203.
He also sparked a happy case of déjà vu among his connections.
"It's a great win and reminds me of the times Gio Ponti ran with the same connections and it's a nice flashback so I'm very happy with that," said Clement, who trained the multiple Eclipse Award winner for Castleton Lyons.