Far From Over Returns a Winner

When we last saw Far From Over on the racetrack, it was a cold winter day in 2015, the infield at Aqueduct was covered with snow, and this ridgling son of Blame was set to make his second career start in the Withers (G3). Sixteen months have passed since that day in February, and Far From Over made a victorious return to the races today in an $80,000 non-winners of three lifetime allowance at Belmont Park.

Far From Over won that 2015 Kentucky Derby prep race in dramatic fashion, leaving many New York racing fans to think that the former $550,000 Keeneland yearling purchase could be a factor in the big three-year-old races to come. He went into the Withers having won his two-year-old debut in December 2014 in front-running fashion, but on this day he had to face the .50-1 favorite, El Kabeir.

When the gates opened in the Withers, Far From Over stumbled very badly and was far behind in the field of eight. I, for one, thought that this Todd Pletcher runner would have to wait for another day, but rider Manny Franco had more confidence than I did. They commenced a rally from last to first that left a very positive impression and those that were still looking for their Kentucky Derby horse.

Pletcher and the ownership group headed by Black Rock Thoroughbreds LLC decided to skip the Gotham and point to the Wood Memorial. However, the Road to the Kentucky Derby often has pitfalls and after a training session at Pletcher’s winter home of Palm Beach Downs, a hairline condylar fracture was discovered in the left rear leg of Far From Over and that surgery would be required.

Now four-years-old, Far From Over had been training forwardly at Belmont Park, but with surgery and that much time away from competition, it is hard to know what to expect. Sent off as the .85-1 favorite, and with Pletcher’s top jock in John Velazquez riding, he picked right up where he left off with another trip to the winner’s circle and his unbeaten record in tact.

"It was a long layoff for him but he came back and ran really well,” said Velazquez. “Even though he's a little green, he put on a good run. He's a big horse and he won his first two races, it took him a little while to get back to the races, but he looked good. The talent is there, he just needs to put it together."

On this day, Far From Over got a perfect set-up, while he sat behind hot early fractions of 1:08.65 and 1:34.63, and easily swept past this field of allowance runners to win the mile and a sixteenth on Big Sandy by 1 ½ lengths in a final time of 1:41.40.

After the race, one of the Black Rock owners, Steve Marshall said, "We're very happy that we got the win and excited that he's back. It's been about 16 months since his last race, and he's come back very strong. We're just happy that he's healthy. Very happy with Todd Pletcher and his group and happy to be back in New York racing again. I'm not sure where we'll go next, we'll talk with the boss and then decide."

Already a graded stakes winner, Far From Over lifted his career record to 3: 3-0-0 with earnings of $243,000. I will be watching carefully for the next start from this talented, yet relatively inexperienced, older horse.