Big A: Iron Orchard, Ground Support, Asbury Park win stakes

Iron Orchard went from a pacesetter in her first two races to a closer Saturday in her third. The result was the same. A win.

A New York-bred daughter of Authentic, Iron Orchard rallied from fourth turning wide at the top of the stretch and outdueled long shot Rileytole by about a nose to win the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes at the Belmont at Aqueduct fall meet.

Click here for Belmont at Aqueduct entries and results.

The Frizette is part of the Breeders’ Cup dirt dozen, which entitles the top three finishers to have some of their expenses paid for entry into the Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar. It also was worth 10-5-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers toward qualifying for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Danny Gargan for CSLR Racing Partners and Randy Hill, Iron Orchard (2-1) was ridden off the pace set first by Rileytole (34-1) by narrow betting favorite Carmel Coast (2-1). The early fractions in the one-turn mile were 22.49, 44.84 and 1:09.25.

Joel Rosario rode Iron Orchard into the lead in the final furlong and hooked up with rail-running Rileytole all the way to the finish line and a winning time of 1:35.97 on the fast main track.

Rileytole finished second, Five Bars (9-2) third and Steer Clear (26-1) fourth.

Iron Orchard returned $6.90, $5.16 and $3.94; Rileytole $18.34 and $9.32; and Five Bars $4.30.

Bought for $500,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction in April, Iron Orchard won two sprints at Saratoga to start her career. She took the black-type Seeking the Ante Stakes on Aug. 22 by 6 3/4 lengths.

Ground Support makes all in Miss Grillo

Despite looking keen early, 12-1 long shot Ground Support settled into his pacesetting role and led from gate to wire to win the $200,000 Miss Grillo (G2), a 1 1/16-mile turf test for 11 2-year-old fillies.

The victory qualified the 2-for-2 daughter of Army Mule for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

Ground Support established early fractions of 23.17, 48.65, 1:13.56 and 1:37.15 en route to a winning time of 1:43.32 under jockey Adam Beschizza.

Deep Learning (2-1) finished second, Quiet Street (5-2) third and Fille d’Oro (3-1) fourth.

Ground Support returned $26.86, $8.26 and $4.68; Deep Learning $4.16 and $2.70; and Quiet Street $3.12.

A debut winner in a $170,000 mile Aug. 30 at Kentucky Downs, Ground Support is trained by Kelsey Danner for owner NBS Stable.

Asbury Park scores in Jockey Club Derby

Asbury Park split horses in the stretch and went on to win by two lengths Saturday in the $500,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational (G2) going 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

A Frankel colt owned by Peter Brant and St. Elias Stable, Asbury Park (2-1) was the longer priced of the two Chad Brown-trained horses in the field of seven 3-year-olds.

Manny Franco rode Asbury Park toward the rear of the pack, saving ground along the rail through the first two of three turns. After gradually moving forward up the backstretch and through the final turn, Asbury Park collared pacesetter Crudo (9-2) in the final furlong and ran on to a winning time of 2:14.45 on the firm course.

Noble Confessor (9-1) finished second, Brown’s Hill Road (6-5) was third, and Crudo settled for fourth after setting early fractions of 23.79, 48.30, 1:14.02, 1:38.57 and 2:02.62.

Asbury Park paid $6.96, $4.06 and $2.52; Noble Confessor $6.62 and $3.50; and Hill Road $2.12.

This was the second win in four starts for Asbury Park, who finished third Sept. 1 in the Saranac, a restricted stakes race at Saratoga. The Jockey Club Derby marked the first time the Great Britain-bred colt raced a distance other than 1 1/16 miles.