Divining Rod makes emphatic return in Polynesian

Lael Stables’  homebred Grade 3 winner Divining Rod, racing for the first time in 8 ½ months, made an emphatic and triumphant return to competition with a 6 ¼-length romp in Saturday’s $75,000 Polynesian at Laurel Park.

 

The seven-furlong Polynesian for 3-year-old and up was one of two sprint stakes on the 11-race program, joined by the $75,000 Twixt for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

 

Favored at 1-2 in a field of five older horses, Divining Rod ($3) completed the distance in 1:22.07 over a muddy and sealed main track for his second career stakes win and first since the 2015 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland.

 

“I think it was impressive. I was a little bit surprised to see him be right there and almost pulling a little bit. He showed a lot more speed than I thought that he would, which was a good thing,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said by phone from Arlington Park, where he had Hawksmoor in the Beverly D. (G1).

 

“We were going seven-eighths,” he added, “and my instructions were to get him to break and let him be comfortable. He broke on top with very fast horses, so I was very impressed with that.”

 

Royal Squeeze broke sharply and was sent to the lead from his far outside post by jockey Feargal Lynch, running the first quarter-mile in 23.44 seconds as Divining Rod was settled in second and in the clear under a strong hold from Daniel Centeno while Vorticity kept pace along the rail.

 

Divining Rod, sprinting for the first time in his career, cruised up to Royal Squeeze after a half in 47.06 and took over the top spot without resistance straightening for home, going six furlongs in 1:10.43 and expanding his lead through the stretch under a hand ride.

 

“I was on him a couple times when he was working and he was going great,” Centeno said. “It was a short field so sometimes you have to change your plans. I thought [Vorticity] was going to send but then [Royal Squeeze] broke so sharp I just let him go. I just sat outside and after that he took the lead. At the three-eighths pole he was driving me. He was doing everything on his own.”

 

Multiple Grade 3-placed Vorticity, winner of the 2015 Marylander, finished second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of late-running Rockinn On Bye, who edged Royal Squeeze by a head for fourth and was followed far back by 50-1 long shot Southern Barbecue. Final Prospect, Never Gone South, No Distortion and The Truth Or Else were scratched.

 

Divining Rod, a 5-year-old son of leading sire Tapit, earned $45,000 for the win to push his career bankroll to $776,604 from 14 starts. He has finished in the top three in 13 of those races with five wins, and was third to Triple Crown champion American Pharoah in the 2015 Preakness (G1).

 

Delacour said the one-mile Kelso Handicap (G2) Sept. 23 at Belmont Park would be the likely next step for Divining Rod, but the trainer is not ruling out a quick turnaround for the seven-furlong Forego (G1) Aug. 26 at Saratoga, a race he won last year with A.P. Indian.

 

“I had in mind before this race the Kelso at Belmont, because it was good timing,” Delacour said, “but I might look at the Forego in case he comes back very well. It’s two weeks from now so that’s kind of short, but we’ll see how the horse is and where we’ll go.”