Stradivinsky proved that it’s never too late to earn a career-defining victory when he wired the $195,000 Jaipur Stakes (G3) by 1 ¼ lengths at Belmont Park on Saturday, earning his first graded win at age 7.
The Florida-bred gelding by Stravinsky was sent off as the second choice in a field of seven 3-year-olds and up in the six-furlong race on firm turf. Stradivinsky got a break when 6-5 favorite Formidable stumbled badly at the break and threw jockey Jose Lezcano to the ground.
The rest of the field found it hard to keep up with Stradivinsky, who earned his fourth straight victory and the second stakes win of his career. The horse, bred by Ocala’s Live Oak Stud, got his other black-type victory in the $126,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes on the synthetic surface at Woodbine in 2007.
Though Formidable was without his rider, he ran like he still wanted to win, battling Stradivinsky for the early lead through a quarter-mile in 22.49 seconds and a half-mile 44.41 seconds. Formidable ran along the rail for most of the early going, with jockey C.C. Lopez trying to keep Stradivinsky out of trouble just outside of him.
Stradivinsky had Formidable close behind throughout but built a five-length advantage over the rest of the field with a quarter-mile to go and extended that lead to six lengths at the top of the lane. He never was threatened down the stretch, stopping the clock in 1:07.74.
“He broke really, really well, and I didn’t realize that there was a loose horse until I saw him inside of me going to the half-mile pole,” Lopez said. “I said to myself, ‘Well, I can’t let him get in front of me because I don’t know where he’s going to go after he gets in front of me,’ so I pinched him a little bit to get him out of there, and from there, my horse ran his eyeballs out. He really did.”
Formidable crossed the finish line second and was followed by Yield Bogey and Florida-bred Dubai Rainbow. Stradivinsky paid $6.90, $4.40 and $3.80, while Yield Bogey returned $5.40 and $4.80 and Dubai Rainbow $5.10.
Stradivinsky was making his first start for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. and owners Michael Dubb, Jack Mandato and Bethlehem Stables LLC. The horse had been claimed from trainer Larry Rivelli and owner Richard Ravin out of a 2 ¼-length victory in a $50,000 claimer going five furlongs on the Churchill Downs lawn in May.
Prior to that, Stradivinsky began his winning streak with a four-length victory in a $25,000 claimer on the Gulfstream Park lawn in March and a three-length score in a $35,000 claimer on the Arlington Park turf course in May, both in front-running fashion. For his career, the horse has won 13 of 32 starts and earned $508,837.
“He loves running fresh, and C.C. gave him a great ride,” Dutrow said. “I told C.C. to concentrate on getting him out of the gate. This horse runs well with spacing, and he likes Churchill Downs, so we’ll run him one more time and then point to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.”
Dubai Rainbow, a 4-year-old, gelded son of Essence of Dubai, was bred by Pembroke Pines’ Grace and Jeremy McNeill and is owned by Paul H. Saylor. He was a $20,000 purchase as a 2-year-old at OBS in April 2008. Dubai Rainbow was making his stakes debut for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He’s won three of his 18 starts and earned $157,275.
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– Photo of Florida-bred Stradivinsky by Adam Coglianese
