NYRA/Joe Labozzetta
By Bill Heller
Expectations were always high on Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willie Horton Racing’s two-year-old colt Bankit. He sold for $260,000 as a two-year-old in March, 2018, and showed blazing early speed in all of his first four starts, finishing second and a runaway first in two maiden races, second by a nose in the $194,000 Funny Cide Stakes and a badly tiring fourth in the $150,000 BF Bongard Stakes under Jose Ortiz.
On Saturday Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode Bankit in his debut, asked him to rate in the one-mile $250,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes on New York-bred Showcase Day at Belmont Park. Good idea. Bankit responded with a sensational 5 ¾ length victory. Sent off at 5-1 in the field of 12, Bankit won in 1:37.69.
Bustin Hoffman, who was 21-1 under Junior Alvarado, finished strongly for second, a length and a quarter clear of 15-1 Strive for a Cure and Weston Hamilton. Riken, who was 68-1 with Manny Franco riding, led late, but had to settle for fourth, one length behind Strive for a Cure.
Hidden Brook Farm and Blue Devil Racing bred Bankit, a son of Central Banker out of Sister in Arms by Colonel John.
Bankit broke fourth from the four post, and Ortiz took a hold of him as the unbeaten gray Dugout, the 5-2 favorite ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr., took the field to an opening quarter-mile in :22.88 and a half-mile in :46.57. At that point, Bankit was eighth.
NYRA/Coglianese Photos
Bankit then rallied into fifth on the inside before angling him out three-wide at the top of the stretch as Dugout began to tire.
After three-quarters in 1:12.30, Riken took the lead as Bankit rallied strongly into second. Bankit blasted past Riken and opened up on the field, winning by himself. [VIDEO REPLAY]
“I got a perfect trip,” Ortiz said. “I thought there was a lot of speed in the race and we have speed. But we didn’t want to be on the front end and going head-to-head in a speed duel. We tried to relax through the first part of the race and then finish, and that’s what we did. We’ve been working him behind horses and he’s had some dirt in his face. At the three-eighth’s pole, I had a lot of horse. When I tipped him out, I knew he was going to be right there.”
Besides showing he can race on the lead or off the pace, Bankit improved his record to two-for-five with two seconds and earnings of more than $240,000.
Is there anything more exciting than owning a versatile, proven two-year-old?
