The Pizza Man repeats in the Stars and Stripes
A half-length winner of last year’s edition, popular local runner The Pizza Man was sent to post as the odds on favorite for this year’s renewal of the Grade 3 Stars and Stripes at Arlington Park. Utilizing a patient tracking tactic rather than last year’s “get the lead and dare them to catch you” plan, The Pizza Man sat 5th throughout the majority of the 1 ½ mile race before unleashing a relentless stretch run that propelled him to victory by a neck.
From post 3, Roman Approval, with Julien Leparoux in the irons, broke well and went to the lead. With absolutely no pressure from any rival, Roman Approval was able to quickly open up a 2 ½ length advantage without overexerting himself. Xtra Luck sat in 2nd with Afortable, Calvados, Three Hearts and the Pizza Man just in behind them. Through the first 1 ¼ mile of the race, the running positions did not change with the exception of The Pizza Man and Three Hearts trading off 5th and 6th.
Throughout the first mile, Roman Approval continued to maintain that comfortable 2 ½ length advantage, setting crawling splits of :52.53 for the first half and 1:44.49 for the mile. As the field approached the quarter pole, Xtra Luck had cut down Roman Approval’s lead to just a length but could not gain any more ground on the pacesetter as the field entered the stretch. Behind them, The Pizza Man was getting geared up to make his move, advancing into 3rd and steadily eating up the ground between himself and the stubborn Roman Approval.
Nearing the wire, Xtra Luck gave way, leaving The Pizza Man and Roman Approval to battle it out for the win. After setting the most comfortable fractions possible, Roman Approval was not going down without a fight, but The Pizza Man was able to look him in the eyeball and get his neck in front just as the wire flashed overhead, denying the gallant runner his first ever stakes victory. The final time was 2:34.13.
Calvados snuck up on Xtra Luck to steal third, leaving the latter to settle for fourth. Mister Marti Gras ran 5th, followed in order by For Greater Glory, the filly Three Hearts and Afortable. Castlederg, Dramedy and Yankee Dealer were all scratched.
As previously mentioned, last year The Pizza Man wired the Stars and Stripes field. This year he stalked the pace before pouncing in the stretch, something that winning jockey Florent Geroux says makes the gelding special. “I think this horse is very good mentally,” he explained. “He’s a horse that can by anywhere during the race and he just knows where the wire is and that’s a big plus. The horse does the race and I make sure I’m nice and smooth. I’m just trying to be a good passenger and stay out of his way and he does the rest.”
As the 4-5 favorite, The Pizza Man paid $3.80/$2.80/$2.40 for the win. Roman Approval returned $4.80/$4.60, and Calvados returned $5.60 for the show. The $2 exacta paid $22.00, the $0.50 trifecta returned $31.55 and the $0.10 superfecta was worth 31.86.
By English Channel and out of the Lear Fan mare I Can Fan Fan, The Pizza Man is a homebred for Midwest Thoroughbreds and trained by Roger Brueggemann. Today’s victory pushed the gelding’s career record to 22: 14-1-2, with nine of those wins coming over the Arlington turf course. Next will come the most important race of his career, as The Pizza Man is on schedule to make his first start in the Arlington Million next month.