NYRA/Adam Coglianese
by Bill Heller
As good at the age of eight as he’s ever been, Allyu Ben J Stables’ home-bred Lubash ran down his nemesis King Kreesa to win his third straight race Friday at Saratoga on New York-bred Showcase Day. Flawlessly ridden by Junior Alvarado, Lubash won the 36th running of the mile-and-a-sixteenth $150,000 West Point Handicap for New York-breds on grass by one length in 1:43.04. Lubash was the 3-2 second choice and King Kreesa, who was piloted by Jose Ortiz, the 6-5 favorite in the field of five.
Lubash, who missed two weeks of training because of an incident on the backstretch at Belmont Park, has been one of trainer Christophe Clement’s favorites for a long time as he’s woven his million dollar-plus earning career. “He’s a fun horse; he’s a real fun horse,” said Clement, who continues to have an outstanding Saratoga meet. Lubash was Clement’s 12th winner from 43 starts.
Lubash is a son of Freud out of Nasty Cure by Cure the Blues. “He’s that good; he overcomes me,” Clement joked. “He tries harder.”
And he seldom disappoints.
The original field for the West Point was 10, but five horses, including top contender Kharafa, scratched, leaving Lubash and King Kreesa as the obvious two favorites. In last year’s West Point, King Kreesa edged Lubash by a head. They’ve raced against each other many times including earlier this year when Lubash captured the $125,000 Kingston Stakes at Belmont Park May 25th by a length over Kharafa with King Kreesa just another neck behind in third.
After the Kingston, Lubash made it two straight when he won a New York-bred allowance at 1-5. He left from the four post Friday. King Kreesa had the two post.
As he usually does, King Kreesa broke first and immediately seized the lead. But John Velazquez, riding 5-1 Notacatbutallama on the rail, completely changed the dynamics of the race when he took his horse off the rail and made a quick outside brush to take the lead. Ortiz responded by letting King Kreesa race in second on Notacatbutallama’s flank. After a first quarter in :24.67, Notacatbutallama slowed the pace down, hitting the half in :49.22 and three-quarters in 1:13.28.
Alvarado let Lubash idle along in fourth before asking him to get closer heading into the far turn. Coming out of the turn, King Kreesa surged past Notacatbutallama as Lubash bore down on him.
In the final sixteenth of a mile, Lubash surged clear, winning by a length. King Kreesa was second, a length and a half ahead of Notacatbutallama in third. Orino finished fourth, just a head behind Notacatbutallama, at 6-1. [VIDEO]
Lubash’s victory was his 14th in 40 grass starts with nine seconds and five thirds. He also has won one of three dirt starts and has total earnings of more than $1.2 million.
Alvarado said, “As soon as I pulled him out, he was there for me. He’s just such a classy, unbelievable horse. He makes my job easy.”
And Clement’s job joyful. “He’s a great horse,” Clement said. “It’s nice to win. I’m very grateful to the owners.”
The owners are most likely grateful to have Clement taking care of a horse as talented as Lubash.
