Alternation wins the 2011 Peter Pan Stakes
Alternation wins the 2011 Peter Pan Stakes
May 14, 2011
The $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is the local prep for the Belmont Stakes for horses who skipped the first two races of the Triple Crown series. A field of eleven 3-year-olds was originally drawn but Isn't He Perfect scratched and will go in the Preakness insteasd. Just 6,386 fans were on hand Saturday at Belmont Park, under overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 60's.
Jerome Stakes (G2) winner Adios Charlie was the 3-1 favorite over 7-2 second choice Alternation, fifth in the Arkansas Derby after winning an allowance at Oaklawn, and 4-1 third choice Uncle Brent, winner of the Northern Spur at Oaklawn last out.
Bold Deed went to the lead exiting the chute and he set fractions of 23.78, 47.14, and 1:11.90 over the fast track while as many as 2 1/2 lengths in front of Adios Charlie and Prime Cut. Entering the stretch, Bold Deed tired allowing Adios Charlie to inherit the lead, opening up a 2 length advantage over Prime Cut through a mile in 1:36.87. Alternation, who was as far back as 7th early, came out 4 wide for the drive and closed well to catch Adios Charlie inside the 1/16 pole to prevail by a head in 1:49.53. It was a long 4 1/2 lengths back to Prime Cut third.
Results chart from DRF
Alternation in the winner's circle
Winning trainer Donnie Von Hemel said, "Any time we have a chance to come back here and run at Belmont, it's going to be difficult race. Ramon has ridden for Pin Oak before, and he's the top man up here. When we decided to come, we decided to give Ramon a call. Steve Rushing, his agent, said 'yes,' so that was like, 'We must have a pretty good shot!' We'll probably go back to Arlington, but we'll certainly keep all of our options open."
Alternation returns after the race
Winning jockey Ramon Dominguez said, "The front wasn't really coming back at all and my horse just kept grinding and tried pretty hard. I was very impressed. He's a beautiful, big animal and they told me before the race, 'You'll be surprised; when you ask him, you'll get horse right away. It's not like he takes a couple strides.' Sure enough, around the 1/2 mile I had to kind of smooch him to get through on the rail.
He responded and then I had to kind of slam on the brakes because I had nowhere to go once I got through. It was good to see that as big as he is, he's also got tactical speed and more than one gear."
Trainer Stanley Hough said, "We were really happy with his race. They went pretty fast. We'll probably look ahead at something like the Jim Dandy or the Haskell, with a race before that."
Jockey Rajiv Maragh added, "It was a tough beat. He's a resilient horse. The tougher the competition gets, the more he will give you."
9-1 shot Prime Cut stalked the pace on the inside early under jockey Edgar Prado, came out for run but could not improve position to finish 3rd beaten 4 1/2 lengths. The Neil Howard trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 2 seconds, and 2 thirds in 7 starts, earning $123,685 for owner Donald Adam.
May 14, 2011
The $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is the local prep for the Belmont Stakes for horses who skipped the first two races of the Triple Crown series. A field of eleven 3-year-olds was originally drawn but Isn't He Perfect scratched and will go in the Preakness insteasd. Just 6,386 fans were on hand Saturday at Belmont Park, under overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 60's.
Jerome Stakes (G2) winner Adios Charlie was the 3-1 favorite over 7-2 second choice Alternation, fifth in the Arkansas Derby after winning an allowance at Oaklawn, and 4-1 third choice Uncle Brent, winner of the Northern Spur at Oaklawn last out.
Bold Deed went to the lead exiting the chute and he set fractions of 23.78, 47.14, and 1:11.90 over the fast track while as many as 2 1/2 lengths in front of Adios Charlie and Prime Cut. Entering the stretch, Bold Deed tired allowing Adios Charlie to inherit the lead, opening up a 2 length advantage over Prime Cut through a mile in 1:36.87. Alternation, who was as far back as 7th early, came out 4 wide for the drive and closed well to catch Adios Charlie inside the 1/16 pole to prevail by a head in 1:49.53. It was a long 4 1/2 lengths back to Prime Cut third.
Results chart from DRF
Alternation in the winner's circle
Winning trainer Donnie Von Hemel said, "Any time we have a chance to come back here and run at Belmont, it's going to be difficult race. Ramon has ridden for Pin Oak before, and he's the top man up here. When we decided to come, we decided to give Ramon a call. Steve Rushing, his agent, said 'yes,' so that was like, 'We must have a pretty good shot!' We'll probably go back to Arlington, but we'll certainly keep all of our options open."
Alternation returns after the race
Winning jockey Ramon Dominguez said, "The front wasn't really coming back at all and my horse just kept grinding and tried pretty hard. I was very impressed. He's a beautiful, big animal and they told me before the race, 'You'll be surprised; when you ask him, you'll get horse right away. It's not like he takes a couple strides.' Sure enough, around the 1/2 mile I had to kind of smooch him to get through on the rail.
He responded and then I had to kind of slam on the brakes because I had nowhere to go once I got through. It was good to see that as big as he is, he's also got tactical speed and more than one gear."
Trainer Stanley Hough said, "We were really happy with his race. They went pretty fast. We'll probably look ahead at something like the Jim Dandy or the Haskell, with a race before that."
Jockey Rajiv Maragh added, "It was a tough beat. He's a resilient horse. The tougher the competition gets, the more he will give you."
9-1 shot Prime Cut stalked the pace on the inside early under jockey Edgar Prado, came out for run but could not improve position to finish 3rd beaten 4 1/2 lengths. The Neil Howard trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 2 seconds, and 2 thirds in 7 starts, earning $123,685 for owner Donald Adam.
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