Zivo wins G2 Suburban
Over the past few years it has become a matter of course for New York-breds to make lots of noise on the biggest racing days in New York. During the Fourth of July weekend in 2010 Haynesfield won the Grade 2 Suburban on Saturday, Franny Freud triumphed in the Grade 1 Prioress on Sunday and Rightly So completed the sweep of all three holiday graded stakes at Belmont Park by winning the Grade 3 Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses Handicap on Monday.
This year New York-breds once again celebrated the nation’s birthday in a big way, delivering standout performances all day long in world-class company on Belmont’s inaugural Stars & Stripes Day card. Represented in four of the day’s five graded stakes races, Empire-breds collected a victory (Zivo), a pair of runner-up finishes (Palace and Captain Serious), a third (Summer Solo) and a dead-heat for fourth (Moonlight Song).
The graded stakes portion of the Stars & Stripes card kicked off with a “serious” Empire-bred performance in Race 4, the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer Stakes for 3-year-olds contested around one turn at the distance of 1 1/16 miles. Captain Serious (Successful Appeal), unbeaten in three prior starts against New York-breds including a three-length victory in Belmont’s Mike Lee last out on May 31, passed a definitive class and distance test for trainer Mike Hushion with flying colors. The Barry Schwartz homebred, who is named for Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, set a strong pace and lasted well under Jose Ortiz before being caught by coupled entrymate Kid Cruz (owned in part by Sheryl Schwartz) just before the wire. Before the race Hushion said, “We’re looking to hopefully develop a nice horse. You got to take a step forward.” Captain Serious did just that.
Race 6 saw Palace, a 5-year-old son of City Zip trained by Linda Rice for Antonino Miuccio, who also happens to be a $20,000 claimer-turned-graded-stakes-winner, rally late under Cornelio Velasquez at odds of 4-1 to grab second in the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship. The winner of the race, Clearly Now, delivered a career performance, setting a new track record of 1:19.96 for seven furlongs. A half-length behind Palace, Albert Fried, Jr.’s late-blooming homebred Moonlight Song (Unbridled’s Song), a half to New York-bred champion Giant Moon and a stakes winner in his own right, held on after setting a sharp pace for the first half-mile to dead heat for fourth in the race at 17-1 for trainer Charlton Baker.
Two races later in the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Stakes (Race 8), Zivo wrote the biggest New York-bred headline of the day, scoring his sixth consecutive victory and first graded stakes win under Jose Lezcano. Trained by Chad Brown for owner/breeder Thomas Coleman, the 5-year-old son of True Direction rallied from last to first to snatch away the prize from a pacesetting Moreno at odds of 13-1. He earned a career-high Beyer of 100 for his effort. Read more.
Race 9 on the card was the $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational, a Breedersʼ Cup designated “Win and You’re In” event for the Grade 1 Filly and Mare Turf. Sarah Leigh’s homebred Summer Solo by Arch, an undefeated filly testing stakes company for the first time for trainer Christophe Clement, finished third after rallying from midpack under Cornelio Velasquez to cross the wire 3 3/4 lengths behind winner Minorette at odds of 33-1. Clement, who also trained the runner-up Sea Queen, tweeted “Two great performances by both horses!”
New York-breds also left their mark on Belmont’s rainy Fourth of July card that led into Saturday’s festivities, collecting a pair of runner-up finishes in the co-featured one-mile races over a boggy turf course. Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch’s even-money Kharafa took a good run at Shadwell’s Sayaad in the $150,000 Forbidden Apple, but had to settle for second money behind the determined winner. Very Un Stable’s Mount Vernon upsetter Mah Jong Maddnes (Freud) assumed the lead in the stretch of the $100,000 Perfect Sting at 4-1, but was run down by a rallying Joy.
In the first half of the year, the Derby exploits of New York-bred sophomores Samraat and Uncle Sigh grabbed most national attention. Considering the way the top-notch performances by New York-breds of all ages were spread over routes and sprints and on both dirt and turf this weekend, the second half of the year holds great promise for more distinction across all the divisions in open and graded competition.
