[caption id="attachment_68720" align="alignright" width="600" caption="Waterford native Tom Moore, flanked by trainer Christophe Clement, leads his Summer Front, with Ramon Dominguez up, into the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle after the 2-year-old colt won Sunday’s Dania Beach Stakes at the Florida oval. "]
The last run proved to be the winning run as Tom Moore’s Summer Front rallied to win the $100,000 Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. The victory leaves the 2-year-old colt undefeated in three starts and will have Moore and trained Christophe Clement batting about the virtues of pointing this son of War Front toward the Triple Crown series.
Summer Front, a bay colt ridden by Ramon Dominguez, nearly went down after stumbling while leaving the starting gate. He recovered quickly, though, and settled into midpack while racing about three paths off the rail. Dominguez gave him his cue in midstretch and the response was immediate, as Summer Front charged past the front runners to win going away by one and one-half lengths.
“He stumbled pretty badly coming out of the gate, and from there I just wanted to make sure I got him to settle in behind horses,” Dominguez said. “The plan was to follow Finale around there, thinking me and him were the two best horses in the race. I was able to get him into the clear around the far turn and from there he kicked it in really well. He’s just a nice horse.”
Summer Front paid $10.20 as the third choice in the wagering in a race that featured three runners from last month’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, which finished second, third and fourth in the Dania Beach. Finale, owned by the Coolmore partnership, finished second to Summer Front. The time for a mile over a firm turf course was a respectable 1:35.2.
Summer Front was purchased by Moore, a Waterford native now based in New York City, where he practices law, for $475,000 at Keeneland in April of this year. He won his debut at Belmont Park in September and came back in early November to take the King Cugat Stakes at Aqueduct.
“We’ve had success before for Mr. Moore with In Summation and we look forward to next year with this one,” Clement said. “We didn’t try him on dirt this year, but maybe next year.”
LYNCH LOADS
UP AT PARX
Cathal Lynch bagged three wins at Parx last week. The winning started in Tuesday’s second race when his Rum Diary fended off multiple challengers to score by a neck over a field of maiden sprinters at the $12,500 claiming level. Kyle Frey had the seat on Rum Diary, which paid $7.40 to win.
Lynch’s Saturday winners employed different strategies to find the winner’s circle. Peachtree Stable’s Tonto, ridden by Oliver Castillo, went for the lead right out of the gate and stuck the entire trip, lasting by a head in this 2-turn mile at the $10,000 claiming level for non-winners of two races. Tonto paid $3.60 to win.
Two races later, the Derry native comprised the exacta when his Ridethesilvertrain, a recent acquisition from Canada, got up in time to hold off Gold Mark Farm’s Benimari, which Lynch also trains, and which had led throughout until passed by the winner. The win mutuel came back $9.00, with a $32.40 exacta in this 2-turner for 2-year-old fillies at the $25,000 tier with only a maiden win to their credit. Roberto Alvarado, Jr. rode the winner.
John Haran caught the players at Hawthorne napping when he put over his and Jim Geiger’s Prince of Speed in the ninth and final race in Cicero on Sunday. The 3-year-old Haran homebred gelding stalked the early pace under Inocencio Diego and rallied to get up by a head to trigger a $95.00 win mutuel. Prince of Speed hadn’t hit the board in eight attempts since breaking his maiden at Arlington in May of this year. This was a nickel claimer at one and one-sixteenth miles for non-winners of two races.
