Favored Archidust earns second stakes win in Mahony
Archidust kicked clear inside the sixteenth-pole and rolled home an open lengths winner in the $100,000 Mahony Stakes at Saratoga Wednesday. Stakes winner Uncle Benny, who hadn't started since a runner-up finish in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, stumbled badly out of the gate and beat just one horse to the wire.
Trained by Jorge Navarro, the versatile Archidust entered the Mahony for 3-year-olds having won an allowance on the dirt at Monmouth followed by a win sprinting on the turf in the My Frenchman Stakes on July 14 in Oceanport.
In the Mahony, Archidust and Javier Castellano tracked an opening quarter of :22.44 set by Fully Loaded and ranged up to leaders three-wide on the turn through a half-mile in :44.68. Archidust took a short lead at the top of the stretch and then poured it on late to win by three lengths over Neverland Rock. Pyron won a photo for third.
"It was a perfect trip," Castellano said. "We broke good out of the gate and got a good position. I didn't want to be too far back, because I think the horse likes to be in the race. I just tried to monitor the pace and let those two horses dictate the pace and tracked from outside. It was a perfect, dream trip for any jockey."
A son of Verrazano, Archidust has won four of eight starts for owners Ivan Rodriguez, Albert Crawford and Michelle Crawford. He was purchased for $300,000 at last year's OBS March sale.
Navarro said the plan had always been to run Archidust on the grass.
"We trained him in South Florida for the turf and in the mornings he was training real well over the turf. We were just waiting for [the My Frenchman] at Monmouth and he came through. This is what we were waiting for.
Navarro added he has no firm plans for Archidust at this point.
"We don't know what we'll do next yet. We'll see how he comes out," Navarro said. "I think there's a race at Kentucky Downs, but with me we have to see how the horse comes out, and then we'll sit down with the owners and plan ahead."