Big Dollar Bill Closes to Take Birdstone Stakes
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Big Dollar Bill wins the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Dennis Farkas, Brett Franklin, and Cheryl Franklin's Big Dollar Bill rallied from last and outkicked 1-5 favorite Hard Study in the stretch to win the $100,000 Birdstone Stakes Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course.
The 4-year-old Midnight Lute gelding thrived at the marathon 1 3/4-mile distance and stayed well off Carlino's early pace of a quarter-mile in :26.12, the half in :53.13, and three-quarters in 1:19.16. Under a patient ride from jockey Chris Landeros, Big Dollar Bill overcame a five-length deficit and made a big push four wide out of the final turn.
Under Landeros' right-handed whip, Big Dollar Bill continued to close the gap from the outside, overtook Hard Study, and hit the wire in 2:59.39 to win by a length over the 2017 Birdstone winner.
"I had a good trip. I thought he could handle the distance, so I wasn't too concerned with him going away from me down the backside," Landeros said. "It actually set up nicely. I kind of caught a breather with him, but that last quarter, he came running big-time. I think he just got a little lost when he hit the front. That's why it felt like they were coming back to him, but he just kept going. He just hits the front and gets a little lost."
Off at 5-1, Big Dollar Bill won his first stakes in his second attempt at the level. The Ian Wilkes trainee improved his earnings to $210,226.
"He got the job done. I've always wanted to run him at these longer distances," Wilkes said. "I felt with his style—he's a bit of a grinding horse and has later gears—that it would suit him at marathon distances. You just don't know until you try it, and thankfully it worked out well today.
"Chris knows this horse so well. He rode him confidently, and it showed. He never panicked early, and when he made his winning move, you could tell he was confident going to the wire, and the horse moved well throughout."
Hard Study, trained by Todd Pletcher, entered the Birdstone off a third-place finish in the Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (G2) June 9 at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old son of Big Brown finished a nose ahead of Archanova for second.