NYRA/Adam Coglianese
by Sarah Mace
Manipulated, a first-time-starting homebred for Chester and Mary Broman, came from off the pace to emerge as the decisive winner of the $125,000, six-furlong Rockville Centre for New York-bred 2-year-olds at Belmont Park on Saturday afternoon.
Conditioned by Jimmy Jerkens and piloted by Luis Saez, Manipulated (Malibu Moon) represented half of a coupled entry for the Bromans in the field of eight juveniles along with Spin Cycle (Hard Spun) for trainer John Kimmel and jockey John Velazquez. The Malibu Moon colt posted a bullet three-furlong blow-out on July 15 and the pair were bet down to odds-on favoritism by post time.
Ridden along out of the gate, Manipulated was outrun in the early stages traveling more than six lengths behind Love that Jazz and Dr. Shane, who vied for the lead and carved out a first quarter mile in 22.80 and half in 47.01.
As Lucky Lurie joined the fray and Love that Jazz began to weaken, Manipulated began a bid midway around the far turn, made up ground and swung five-wide into the top of the stretch. After picking off rivals, he took over inside the furlong marker and worked his way four lengths clear by the wire in 1:12.67 over a “good” main track. Lucky Lurie finished second, a length in front of Dr. Shane. [VIDEO]
Saez reported, “We had a little trouble when we broke. First, a horse came in and another one came out. I was trying to be patient and get a better position so I put him in the clear. At the half-mile pole, I knew I had a lot of horse and at the three-eighths, I asked him a little and he just took off. He won easy.”
Jerkens said, “It’s not often you run in a stakes with a first-time starter, but there were a few of us in the same boat. He’d been training well in the morning, and there was a lot of money hanging out there, so why not take a shot? He blew out good the other morning and we thought if he cooled out well, we’d go, and it worked out.”
Manipulated became the second winner for his dam Silver Knockers, a stakes winner and multiple graded stakes performer by Silver Deputy who earned nearly $250,000 on the racetrack. Chester Broman purchased the mare in foal to Unbridled’s Song for $320,000 at the 2009 Keeneland November sale. That first foal, Knockher Off, has earned $186,656. Silver Knockers has a yearling filly by Bernardini named Spa Treatment and a foal this year by Desert Party.
