Photo: MEC
The
highly-anticipated appearance of Lael Stable’s 3-year-old homebred Lentenor in
Wednesday’s eighth race allowance feature at Gulfstream Park left fans and
connections with lingering questions about Barbaro’s full-brother as he
finished second as the odds-on favorite in the 1 1/8 miles turf test.
Ridden
by John Velazquez, the son of Dynaformer stalked a rather slow pace in the
early going and edged Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren’s, Jr.’s Saint Eligius for
the place at the wire while WinStar Farm’s Doubles Partner slipped through
along the hedge to score by a half-length.
Saint
Eligius finished third a neck behind Lentenor in the field of 11. Jockey Chris
DeCarlo rode Doubles Partner for trainer Todd Pletcher. The son of Rock Hard
Ten was a $450,000 Saratoga
yearling purchase that had broken his maiden last out on turf at Churchill
Downs on Nov. 28.
Trainer
Michael Matz said after the race of Lentenor’s performance - “It’s
disappointing. He broke well. He ran real well. (Jockey) John (Velazquez) said
he was just doing some green things, and looking around. The pace was slow, and
in hindsight he wishes he would have let him go a little earlier.
“At the
three-eighths pole he would have gone past that other horse (Saint Eligius).
He’s green still. He needs that experience. It’s a good question (where he runs
next). I know he’s definitely the type that can run in the big races, it’s just
a matter of timing and whether he can get the experience he needs.”
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