OUTPERFORMANCE OVERPOWERS IN HILL PRINCE ST GR.3
Outperformance came wide with
a big rush to win the $115,400 Hill Prince Stakes (Gr.3 T) on a
soft turf course at BelmontParkFriday
afternoon.
Spider Power came up the
hedge for second. Carnera, who found the lead at the eighth pole,
was third.
A Kentucky-bred son
of APTITUDE, Outperformance is out of the Bel Bolide mare
Devine Pet. The 3-year-old was bred by Richard and Nancy Kaster. He
is owned by Klaravich Stables and trained by Richard Violette
Jr.
Outperformance, ridden by
Javier Castellano, had one horse beaten with a quarter-mile to run
but was making up ground along the inside on the turn. The bay colt
switched to the outside, responded to rousing from his rider, and
cleared off in the late stages to win by 1 1/2
lengths.
"We wanted to take him back
and make one run," Violette. said. "And I thought we were in great
position to do that after a half-mile. When he kept backing up, I
wondered what the heck (Castellano) was doing. When I asked Javier
after the race, he said he wasn't handling the soft turf all that
well. He took a hold of him to see if he could give him some
support. It worked. He found a good place to angle out to. He's got
that good leg kick, and he's a pretty nice horse.
"
Mr. Silver set the early pace
in the Hill Prince, getting the opening quarter in :24.03 and half
in :48.07. He was tracked by Black Snake and Transit of Venus.
Carnera stalked in fourth.
Turning for home, Carnera
came off the rail to overtake Mr. Silver for the lead after six
furlongs in 1:12.44. He hit the front under Eibar Coa, but was
unable to hold off Outperformance. Spider Power, who steadied
entering the stretch, got second under Jose Santos by
three-quarters of a length. The winner hit the line in 1:36.74 over
the rain-soaked Widener turf course.
Castellano was fresh off a
victory in the Preakness (gr. I) aboard Bernardini at Pimlico three
weeks ago.
"He finished very, very
good." Castellano said. "When I rode him the first time on the turf
at Gulfstream, he came all the way from last. The last two races, I
kept him close, but he didn't seem to finish that well. Today, I
thought I would take him back and let him finish, and he
did."
It was the first stakes
attempt for Outperformance. After breaking his maiden in his
initial turf try Jan. 25 at Gulfstream, Outperformance ran second
in a mile turf allowance at Keeneland April 26 before running
second again -- this time to Spider Power -- in a 1 1/16-mile
allowance over the Belmontturf course May 18. He
earned $69,240 for the victory and cost $240,000
at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale last
May
Date:
12 June 2006