Unified Stays Unbeaten with a Win in the Peter Pan
Unified stayed unbeaten in three career starts when he came from off the pace for the first time to win the $200,000 Peter Pan (G2) at Belmont Park. The Jimmy Jerkens trainee had been in front at every call of his first two starts. Today’s mile and an eighth stakes was a quarter mile farther than he had ever been asked to race.
At the start, Unified broke alertly from the number seven post position while the 70-1 long shot maiden Singleton was determined to get to the lead from the two post. Unified’s jockey, Jose Ortiz, made a quick to decision to let the maiden have the lead hoping to get the Centennial Farms runner to settle on the outside just behind the leader.
After the first quarter mile went in 23.32, the 102-1 Supah Czech moved inside of Unified to take second. The half-mile time was 46.38 on a Belmont Park track that had been playing pretty fast throughout the day. At this point Ortiz and Unified began the make their move for the lead. Clearly Singleton and Supah Czech were beginning to tire as Unified accelerated to take the lead after six furlongs went in 1:10.25.
Down the stretch the son of Candy Ride extended his lead to three lengths, but the Christophe Clement trainee, Governor Malibu, rallied up the rail, before shifting outside for a late run at the favorite. Unified appeared to be shortening stride a bit, but he was still able to hold of the late run of Governor Malibu and win by three-quarters of a length in a final time of 1:47.14.
Ortiz described his trip, "It wasn't my Plan A, but it was my Plan B [to sit off the lead]. I saw the 2 horse sent [to the lead] so I got a good position and [settled off] him because I didn't want to get into trouble with that horse. The first quarter mile, he relaxed nicely and then the 1 horse came out got between us, he got a little bit edgy on me. By the half-mile pole, I put the 1 horse away and he then he settled back down and when I asked him to go, he was there."
The win for Unified moved his record to 3: 3-0-0 and with the $120,000 winner’s share of the purse he upped his earnings to $324,000. Sent off by the bettors at .55-1, he paid $3.10, 2.70, and 2.20 across the board.
Jerkens talked about his Belmont Stakes plans, "I don't know [about the Belmont]. There would have to be a lot of horses going by the wayside for that to happen. But you'd be an idiot nowadays to rule anything out, because things change overnight. It's improbable, but not impossible."