Belmont wrap: Fort Bragg bests Saudi Crown in Dwyer

Highly regarded Fort Bragg secured his breakthrough victory, outdueling a game Saudi Crown in the stretch drive to earn his first graded win in Saturday’s 105th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer Stakes for sophomores going a one-turn mile at Belmont Park.

Fort Bragg was initially targeting the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) on the June 10 Belmont Stakes undercard but was scratched from the seven-furlong test when he spiked a fever. The bay son of Tapit was immediately rerouted to Saturday’s test and he did not disappoint as the 3-5 favorite, staving off a resurgent Saudi Crown, the 8-5 second choice, to win by a nose for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Breaking from post 5 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Fort Bragg was in the clear in third down the backstretch, sitting 2 1/2 lengths off the early foot of Saudi Crown, who led the six-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.47 seconds over the fast main track with Harrodsburg tracking a close second.

Fort Bragg advanced into second position around the far turn through a half-mile in 44.63 seconds and matched strides with Saudi Crown in upper stretch as the well-backed pair separated themselves from the rest. Fort Bragg garnered a head advantage at the stretch call, while Saudi Crown put up one last fight in the final furlong. But Fort Bragg had enough to keep his foe at bay, winning in a final time of 1:35.37.

It was 11 lengths back to third-place finisher Harrodsburg, followed by Joey Freshwater, Alternate Reality and Prove Right.

Fort Bragg added blinkers for the Dwyer, which Velazquez said made a noticeable difference.

“He was pretty professional today,” Velazquez said. “I talked to Bob and he’s been a horse that gets to kind of looking around and not really paying attention. With the blinkers today, he was pretty professional. I’ve got to say that he was pretty easy to handle. When I put half a length in front of the other horse, I’m thinking I was going to win easy, and all of a sudden, the horse stayed there and I can’t put him away. But I did. It was a good effort.”

Velazquez admitted that the stretch run was harder than he anticipated.

“I thought at the quarter pole I was going to win pretty easy,” Velazquez said. “I put a half-length in front of him (Saudi Crown) and the other horse kept fighting. I kind of hung a little bit, but the other horse kept running. I was like, ‘Hey! Don’t let him come back at you, pay attention!’"

Fort Bragg entered the Dwyer from a close second in the one-turn Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) on Churchill Downs’s May 6 Kentucky Derby undercard. He remained at Belmont after being withdrawn from the Woody Stephens and breezed twice over Big Sandy under the watchful eyes of trainer John Terranova and his wife and assistant Tonja.

“A big shout out to the Terranovas who looked after the horse for me and saddled him today,” Baffert said.

Baffert said Fort Bragg demonstrated marked improvement in the Dwyer. 

“He's just figuring it out,” said Baffert, who captured previous editions of the Dwyer with Roman Ruler (2005) and Forestry (1999). “His last race was huge at Churchill. He just got away bad that day or he probably would have won the race. I think he's getting it all together. They went fast today. He went against a really nice horse and they just laid it down, but class always prevails. It was a good race with two good horses.”

A third-out maiden winner in November going two turns at Santa Anita, Fort Bragg was a distant third in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) the following month before finishing fifth in a pair of two-turn preps on the Kentucky Derby trail. But Baffert has not ruled out another future two-turn engagement in a race like the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on July 29 at Saratoga.

“I'll leave that door open. We have some other ones, too,” Baffert said. “We still have the Preakness winner (National Treasure), don't forget about him. But certainly, we'll have some good horses in all those stakes races up there.”

Fort Bragg is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock and Henry Field Bloodstock, Fort Bragg is out of the stakes-winning New York-bred Shanghai Bobby mare March X Press. He was purchased for $700,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, aboard Saudi Crown, was gallant in defeat but said the outcome could have been different had the Brad Cox trainee drawn an outside post.

“He broke so well and I suspected the other horse outside (Harrodsburg) could go to the lead as well. But he didn't and my horse broke so well out of the gate and he dictated the pace,” Castellano said. “I just took over the flow – I think the track is a little fast, but these are really good horses. The way he did it was very easy, nice and comfortable. Johnny was right there every single step of the way and I tried to open by one, two (lengths) and let him feel comfortable. But he chased me every single step and I think the two best horses showed up and put on a good show. I’m not disappointed and I’m looking forward to more in the future.”

Audible pays off as Three Technique captures John A. Nerud

Co-owner David Miller, a former quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals, called an audible and reaped the benefits as Three Technique made the grade with a powerful stretch-drive surge under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano to capture Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Belmont Park.

Trained by Jason Cook and owned by Miller in partnership with Eric Grindley and John Werner, the 6-year-old Mr Speaker horse was making his first start over Big Sandy since a third-place effort in the 2021 John A. Nerud won by Mind Control.

Three Technique was cross-entered in Sunday's one-mile Hanshin at Ellis Park and the connections were hoping to see their charge avenge a narrow runner-up effort to eventual Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victor Cody's Wish in that event at Churchill Downs.

But when the Hanshin was moved from a one-turn mile at Churchill to a one-and-a-half turn configuration out of the chute at Ellis Park, the team decided the dark bay’s late-running Hail Mary style is better suited to Belmont where he now boasts a record of 6: 2-2-2.

“We’ve been watching Ellis Park for the first 120 races and every race has been on the lead, speed, go to the front, and our horse is a closer. It wasn’t setting up for us, so we figured we would take a shot up here at Belmont,” Miller said.

Twisted Ride broke alertly and dueled for the lead with Little Vic as the latter took over through an opening quarter-mile in 23.16 seconds over the fast main track. Candy Man Rocket, who exited the inside post under Junior Alvarado, was maneuvered to the outside and stalked from second position as the half-mile elapsed in 46.08 seconds.

Candy Man Rocket advanced to even terms with Little Vic at the top of the lane as a host of challengers lined up, including Three Technique, who waited patiently for racing room behind rivals before angling outside for a clear run at the leaders. Candy Man Rocket put away Little Vic, but he was no match for the closing kick of Three Technique, who powered to a 3 3/4-length score in a final time of 1:22.88.

Synthesis arrived in the final jumps to complete the exacta by a head over Candy Man Rocket with Sheriff Bianco, Little Vic, Twisted Ride and Weyburn, who was off a step slow as the 8-5 mutuel favorite and never factored, rounding out the order of finish.

Castellano said his patient approach paid dividends.

“He doesn’t like to be inside. I had plenty of horses inside and outside me and had to wait as long as I can, but I was following the right horse and I tipped outside and let him roll,” Castellano said. “He took off. It took him a moment to switch leads, and then finally he switched the lead and he took off. He was running with the wrong lead, and he was running every step of the way that I asked him – he responded.”

Three Technique, previously owned by Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells, launched his career in New York with trainer Jeremiah Englehart, scoring three wins ahead of his initial Nerud effort. He was made available at the 2021 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale but RNA'd and was haltered by Cook for $40,000 from a runner-up effort in November at Churchill when conditioned by Robert Medina.

The hard-trying Three Technique captured the restricted Knicks Go for Cook last May at Churchill and entered from a game optional-claiming score over well-regarded Kupuna traveling a one-turn mile on May 27 at the Louisville oval.

Cook said he would like to find one race to bridge the gap to another attempt at the one-mile Ack Ack (G3) in September, a race that Three Technique finished third in last year at Churchill.

“I’ve always wanted to win the Ack Ack. It’s a personal goal of mine,” said Cook, who secured his first win in New York. “Last year, after the Hanshin, he didn’t run again until the Ack Ack. I gave him the winter off so he would be better than he was last year and his last two races have paid off.”

Manny Franco, aboard the multiple graded-stakes placed Synthesis, said he was proud of his horse’s effort.

“I had a wide trip but at the same time, I feel like we weren’t going that fast. I just let my horse do his thing,” Franco said. “He was traveling well and I don’t get in his way. He did great to finish second.”

Bred in Kentucky by Omega Farm and Bally Breeders, Three Technique banked $137,500 in victory while improving his record to 31:6-6-7. He returned $13.60 for a $2 win bet.