The Smith Handicap (Grade 3)- $250.000 Purse
AQU- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and Three Eighths on the Turf
November 14, 2015

A field of five went to the starting gate for an eleven furlong event this afternoon at AQU, but it really seemed as though our winner, Royal Integrity was in a race of his own in the Smith Handicap.   The seven year old gelding has had a lengthy career, and several different owners.  About fourteen months ago, he was seen running at the free track running for a $7.500 claiming tag.  Aer Stables rescued him from the free level with a $15.000 claim, and he showed promise in his first race with the new trainer.  This was a big step up for him, but he made it look like a stroll in the park.    It is the first win in the stake for Aer Stables, and his jockey, J Alvarado wins it for the second time.   The race time of 2:11.51 was the second fastest in the stakes history, with the fastest running being J Alvarado’s other Smith win (2012 with Individual).  Here is a summary of how it went down.

1st- 5- Royal Integrity (9/5)- The effort put forth today by our race winner was very impressive.  Initially, it was he who was the quickest out of the gate, but soon enough jockey J Alvarado would be content to allow Another Mambo to be the race leader.  The Aer Stables entry would run to his outside, and not put any considerable pressure on him in the early stages.  As the field moved down the backstretch, Another Mambo began to cave in, and Royal Integrity would assume the lead.   He handled the turn in a graceful manner and at the top of the stretch, it became clear that there would not be a hard charging closer coming his way.    May Dancer was the only one in his vicinity during the stretch, but that one was not able to make enough headway.  In the end, Royal Integrity was much the best, and made winning this eleven furlong event look much easier then it probably actually was.  This seven year old gelding is an autogen, and was bred in Florida by Aloya.   He passed through three other barns before recently arriving at Aer Stables, and has been very impressive with him so far.  Congrats to all of the connections!

2nd- 4- May Dancer (8/5)-   The post time favorite assumed a stalking position behind the pacesetters in the early going.  He would be fourth of five, but ran along side Lythrum Salicaria and had the better lane, given that he was behind Royal Integrity much of the way.  R Bejarano rode him well, and May Dancer made a strong effort to try and challenge Royal Integrity in the stretch.  He seemed to be going all out for Nakamura Stables, but Royal Integrity, who was also once owned by Nakamura Stables, had plenty left in the tank to hold off this challenge.

3rd- 2- Lythrum Salicaria (6/1)- My pre-race pick was made one of the longer shots on the board, and that was a little bit surprising.  Unfortunately, Lythrum Salicaria did not do much to show why I had confidence in him.  For the majority of the race, he was in a stalking position behind Another Mambo with May Dancer running to his outside.   Briefly, it looked like Lythrum Salicaria was hindered by Another Mambo when that one began to fade out of contention.  I was prepared to use that as an excuse at that point, but the Blushing Meadows entry did have plenty of time to rediscover his stride for the stretch, and he came up flat.

4th- 3- Another Mambo (8/1)- The RNP Stables entry was up on the lead early, and would be the one to set the opening fractions, those being :49.01 for the half mile and 1:12 4/5 for six furlongs.  He seemed very competitive in the early stages of the race, so when he began to bow out late in the turn, it was a bit of a surprise as it seemed as though he would like this distance.

5th- 1- Make Change (4/1)-   Came into the race in a slump, though in much better fields.  This seemed to be the ideal spot for him to get his mojo back for trainer Night Rider Stables.  In the end though, this race was much like those other ones.  He never got involved, in any way, shape or form.  Trainer may need to make a change in the type of races he puts Make Change in.

Track: Firm
Time: :49   1:12⁴  1:35⁴  2:11²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 4 Paid 13.60
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 4 – 2 Paid 36.30

Scratched: Dogs Infowarrior

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES