Adirondack Summer Wins Dania Beach

Adirondack Summer, responding impressively to left-handed urging from jockey Alan Garcia, got up at the wire to win the roughly run $100,000 Dania Beach Stakes by a nose over Brilliant Speed on the turf at Gulfstream Park Jan. 16.

Making his first start in Florida after racing twice in New York on turf as a 2-year-old, Adirondack Summer topped a field of nine sophomores in the one-mile Dania Beach while clocking a time of 1:34.44 over firm going. Adirondack Summer was last at the quarter pole and had seven horses to beat at mid-stretch but got the job done while avoiding a tangle of trouble to his inside.

Christophe Clement trains the winning son of Thunder Gulch  --Summer Solstice, by Caerleon, for owner Peter Deutsch.

Adirondack Summer had to overcome the rail post to get to the far outside in the stretch where he edged Brilliant Speed and John Velazquez for the victory. Master Dunker, with Luis Saez aboard, finished third. Lil Bit O'Fun, the 8-5 favorite, was rank early and faded to last after taking the lead briefly between horses in upper stretch.