Annapolis completes Belmont weekend stakes sweep for Pletcher

Bass Racing’s Kentucky homebred Annapolis was an emphatic winner for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in Monday’s $100,000 Manila for sophomores going one mile over the Widener turf at Belmont Park.

The win gave Pletcher a sweep of the weekend stakes at Belmont after taking both the Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud with Life Is Good and the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer with Charge It on Saturday, as well as the $100,000 Perfect Sting with Jouster on Sunday.

“We’ve had a great weekend,” said Pletcher. “It’s been a lot of fun for the whole team and a lot of people putting in a lot of work for it. I’m grateful.”

Annapolis improved from a runner-up effort last time out when he labored over soft turf in the Penn Mile (G2) on June 3 at Penn National and suffered his first career defeat. The Manila was the second stakes win from four lifetime starts for the lightly-raced son of War Front.

“I can’t emphasize enough how soft the ground was at Penn,” Pletcher said of Annapolis’ last outing. “It wasn’t your normal soft turf course, it was bottomless.”

Annapolis broke from post No. 2 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons and settled into fourth while stablemate Chanceux set an even tempo up front, coasting through an opening quarter-mile in 23.41 seconds over the firm turf. Boston Tea Party pressed a half-length behind before coming to even terms with Chanceux as the field reached the turn. Coinage angled to the three-path with two foes to his inside to make it three across the track after a half mile in 46.14 seconds.

It looked to be anyone’s race as the field straightened for the drive to the wire and Annapolis needed to find a seam, but Ortiz, Jr. guided him confidently to split rivals and display a powerful turn of foot down the center of the racetrack, leaving the others in his wake to fight for second. Annapolis was in hand at the sixteenth pole and strolled home a 2 3/4-length winner in a final time of 1:32.81. He returned $3.30 for a $2 win wager.

Double Clutch responded well to urging from Manny Franco to close from last and secure place honors by a half-length over Ready to Purrform. Chanceux rounded out the superfecta with Boston Tea Party, Coinage and Smokin’ T completing the order of finish. Ohtwoohthreefive was scratched.

Pletcher said he was pleased to see Annapolis find racing room in the final quarter-mile.

“He was loaded up and had plenty of horse and just needed a place to go. Fortunately, it kind of opened up and he was able to get his way through there,” said Pletcher. “He was actually a touch closer than I thought he would be. He was on his game from the beginning, but he [Ortiz, Jr.] hid him pretty well and he was able to get through and kicked on nicely. I thought it was a good gallop out.”

Ortiz, Jr. said everything worked out perfectly once Annapolis found an opening.

“Going to the quarter pole, my horse was full of run but I had nowhere to go, honestly. I had to wait a couple of strides to get out of there,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I was biding my time and I rode him with confidence. I was able to hold him back going to the quarter-pole and he still overcame everything. He’s a nice horse. He was much the best today.

“I got a perfect post position,” Ortiz, Jr. added. “He was there behind the speed and was able to save ground the whole way. In the stretch, I tipped him out and he responded really well.”

Pletcher had considered running Annapolis in the 10-furlong Belmont Derby (G1) on Saturday, but said he opted for the Manila to prepare him for a stretch-out in the 1 3/16-mile $1 million Saratoga Derby (G1) on Aug. 6.

“We thought really hard about the Belmont Derby but we felt doing that off of one start might be a little bit too much,” said Pletcher.” So, we figured we’d try this and get this under his belt and hopefully set us up for Saratoga. He gives me the impression [that he will stretch out].”

Manny Franco said he was proud of the last-to-second effort from Double Clutch.

“He gave me a great run in the stretch. I was following the winner in the stretch,” Franco said. “I tried to make my move before him, but my horse ran great.”

Annapolis posted a two-for-two juvenile campaign, starting with a debut maiden victory in September at Saratoga before making a successful stakes debut in the Pilgrim (G2) at Belmont, registering a determined win by a head over Portfolio Company. He earned $55,000 for his Manila coup, boosting his total purse earnings to $297,600 and improving his record to 4: 3-1-0.