Disco Time dances away in Dwyer, is now 5-for-5

Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Disco Time was ultra-impressive when improving his record to 5-for-5 in Saturday’s $200,000 Dwyer, a one-turn mile for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Not This Time dark bay entered from a pacesetting 5 1/2-length score in the 1 1/16-mile St. Louis Derby on Sept. 19 at Fairmount Park, which came off a layoff dating to a rallying victory in the Lecomte (G3) at third asking in January at Fair Grounds.

Click here for Aqueduct entries and results.

On Saturday, Disco Time pressured the pace under Florent Geroux, who has been aboard for all five starts, en route to a dominant 9 3/4-length victory over Crudo. Disco Time, with the eye-catching victory, validated his last out performance that earned a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form. 

"An amazing horse. The sky is the limit for him," Geroux said. "He ran a very fast speed figure last time off the layoff, so the connections gave him plenty of time to recover from that effort. Today, he was back with a bang again – a very exciting horse for the future."

Disco Time exited post 2 and was bumped by Tip Top Thomas, but still tracked that rival, who went to the lead from the inside post and set an opening quarter-mile of 22.27 seconds over the fast main track. 

Disco Time remained outside of the Hall of Famer John Velazquez-piloted Tip Top Thomas down the backside with Crudo sitting in third position under Kendrick Carmouche and Stars and Stripes the trailer through the half-mile in 44.56. In the turn, Disco Time went clear of the early pacesetter with little movement from Geroux to mark three-quarters in 1:08.78. 

"I thought the horse to beat was definitely Tip Top Thomas. I wanted to make sure I keep a close eye on him," said Geroux. "On the backside, I was cruising and Johnny on the turn was already asking his horse for a little bit more and I was just cruising."

Once straightened for home, Disco Time kicked on and the race was decided then, quickly becoming a matter of what his margin of victory would be. Crudo ran on from third, but Disco Time was much the best in a final time of 1:33.86. 

Tip Top Thomas finished another five lengths back in third and Stars and Stripes completed the order of finish. Dream On and Light Forever were scratched. 

"Very impressive," said Dustin Dugas, Belmont Park-based assistant to Cox. "Florent knows the horse very well and he timed everything really well. He didn’t let Tip Top Thomas get away. They were rolling. When he asked him to go, he went and there was nothing left to guess about.

"They were going quick, but the way he was sitting outside of him – Florent said he was comfortable the entire way. He was very confident in his horse and the horse looked very confident in himself," added Dugas.

"Wow, that's the right word," jockey Florent Geroux said in a NYRA TV interview with Maggie Wolfendale after the race. "I felt like he was coming home very nicely for me at the end. I couldn't wait to watch the clock and see how fast I went, and pleasantly surprising on the time. We always had very high hopes with the horse. He was, I believe, one of our best 3-year-olds coming into this year. Unfortunately, he got a little bit of a hiccup, but it looks like he's back stronger than ever." Geroux said he didn't think Disco Time was running against distance limitations and suggested the Saudi Cup as a possible spot next year for the Saudi-owned horse.

Carmouche said the Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher-trained Crudo was game in his return to dirt off a pair of fourths in turf stakes. Pletcher also sent out Tip Top Thomas. 

"The horse ran good," said Carmouche. "We were just second best today. With a little more distance, you’ll get that much better out of him. I thought he ran good, overall."

Disco Time is out of the Grade 2-placed Pennsylvania-bred Jump Start mare Disco Chick, who banked $735,250 through a 42: 10-14-6 ledger. He earned $110,000 in victory while returning $4.44 for a $2 win bet as the post-time favorite.