Ascend launched past classy rivals to upset Manhattan victory
Sitting just behind a sensible early pace, Ascend was part of a blanket of horses in with a shot in the stretch drive of the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Stakes. As the wire loomed, Ascend kicked clear of the rest and drove forward to a decisive 1 1/4-length victory.
Applicator, the longest shot on the board, went out for the lead and the opportunity to put the rest of the field to sleep with a slow early pace. Speedy World Approval took up second to his inside, with Beach Patrol tucked in along the hedge in third. Ascend did his early racing in fourth, shadowed by favorite Time Test. There was a gap back to Divisidero, Wake Forest, Sadler’s Joy, and trailer Potemkin.
The racing order did not change as Applicator led the field through splits of :24.60, :50.09, and 1:14.39.
In the far turn, Jose Ortiz guided Ascend to the outside and the duo moved up into second, passing both World Approval and Beach Patrol and moving up just off pace-setting Applicator. That move gave them the jump on favored Time Test and Javier Castellano.
In the stretch and with more than half the field in contention, Ascend, who had never even set hoof in the paddock with the likes of this field before today, launched a rally that carried him to the lead and victory. After a slow beginning to the Manhattan, the pace picked up in the far turn and stretch, and Ascend posted a solid final time of 1:59.97 for the 1 ¼-mile event on Belmont’s inner turf.
Time Test had no excuse and could just not keep pace with the eventual winner in the stretch. Sadler’s Joy, who had broke a step slow and was still in 7th in the stretch, closed from dead last at one point to nab third. Beach Patrol completed the superfecta.
World Approval faded to fifth, Divisidero was sixth, and Potemkin, Applicator, and Wake Forest rounded out the order of finish.
At 27-1, the second longest shot in the field, Ascend paid $57.00, $15.60, and $8.60. Race favorite Time Test returned $3.50 and $2.90, and Sadler’s Joy returned $4.50. The $2 exacta paid $244.00, the $2 trifecta returned $1,582.00, and the $2 superfecta was worth $7,094.00.
Winning trainer Graham Motion was obviously pleasantly surprised by today’s outcome. "He gave him a beautiful ride. He was in a great spot, a good set up. [It's] pretty much how we thought it'd set up. He ran a great race, but you don't expect to win at 25-1. As of now we don't have any plans with him. It was just this race for now,” he stated.
Jose Ortiz, the winning rider, indicated that Ascend had been full of run for the entire race. "In the first turn I tried to go in between horses to save ground. But I couldn't do it because they were going so slow. I stayed behind horses for as long as I could and when they passed the five-eighths pole, I put my horse in the clear. On the second turn, I went out because I knew they were going too slow. He was trying to go,” he explained.
“By the three-eights pole I knew that Applicator was going to pick them up so I wanted to be close to him. When I was ready to move, I did and he responded very well. When the horse switched leads, I touched him on the back with my whip and he took off. He was very comfortable for the last eighth of a mile," Ortiz continued.
Javier Castellano, who was aboard beaten favorite and runner-up Time Test, and Mike Smith, who piloted third place finisher Sadler’s Joy, both cited the slow pace as a disadvantage for their mounts. However, Chad Brown, Time Test’s trainer, stated, “We had every opportunity to kick on and try to run down the winner and he couldn't.”
By Candy Ride (ARG) and out of the Silver Ghost mare Ghost Dancing, Ascend is a homebred for Stone Farm who owns the 5-year old gelding in partnership with Madaket Stables. A winner of 6 races from 14 career starts, Ascend utilized an overnight stakes victory at Laurel Park as a prep for his first graded stakes start, giving him wins in both his stakes debut and his graded stakes debut. Today’s purse boosted his career earnings to $919,280.