Uncle Benny Rallies for Futurity Upset

Ridden aggressively by Irad Ortiz Jr., Uncle Benny rallied from last to first to upset the $150,000 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park Oct. 7, earning a "Win and You're In" trip to the inaugural Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs Nov. 2.

Run for the first time on grass, the six-furlong Futurity drew a dozen 2-year-olds, with Credit Swap's scratch reducing the number of starters to 11.

Joyful Heart and Jose Lezcano took the early lead, taking the field through a half-mile in :46.30 while stalked by longshot Real Money. Real Money moved to the fore rounding the turn but was soon overtaken by Dragic, the daughter of Broken Vow  who finished third in the one-mile Kentucky Downs Juvenile Stakes and was installed as the lukewarm 3-1 favorite.

As Dragic looked poised to stroll to victory, Backtohisroots kicked in and was soon joined by the fast-closing Uncle Benny, who continued his momentum to the wire, winning by a half-length.

A son of the Ashford Stud stallion Declaration of War  making only his second start after winning his debut at Monmouth Park for owner Ara Aprahamian and trainer Jason Servis, Uncle Benny returned $12.60 for the win, with Backtohisroots paying $42.20. Dragic held third, at $3.40. Final time over a course rated good was 1:11.26.

Bred in Kentucky by Peter Magnier, Uncle Benny was purchased by Servis for $185,000 from Eaton Sales, agent, at the 2017 edition of The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected yearling sale. The victory increased Uncle Benny's earnings to $104,100.

Servis said Uncle Benny nearly had traffic problems at the break when Swamp Rat broke poorly, but Ortiz was able to avert any contact between the horses.

"Irad (Ortiz) said (Swamp Rat) broke out so bad that if he hadn't taken ahold of him, he would've clipped heels and fell," the trainer said. "He said he had to snatch him up into a standstill. Irad said, 'Man, after all that and he still wins,' so Irad really liked him a lot."

"He's a nice horse. It was the first time I rode him," Ortiz said. "We had the outside post, and he broke a step slow. I didn't want to rush him out of there, he's a baby. They ran away from (us), and I just dropped in. I didn't panic. I waited, and when I made the run on the outside, he took off."

"I'm proud of Backtohisroots. After seeing today what we saw, I think we'll stick to grass and develop him on that and see where we go," said John Terranova, trainer of runner-up Backtohisroots and sixth-place finisher Stole E.

"My horse ran great," said Rajiv Maragh, who was aboard Backtohisroots. "He broke well and settled in and finished strong. Unfortunately, he got out-finished, but my horse showed up today. He handled the turf really well."