Imperial Hint battles back, tops Firenze Fire in the Vosburgh
Luis Carvajal Jr. wished for Imperial Hint to win — and do so easily — in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Vosburgh Stakes.
Well, at least the more important half of that equation materialized after Firenze Fire headed Imperial Hint in the Belmont Park stretch, then saw the 1-5 favorite battle back to get the bob at the wire.
Under jockey Javier Castellano, Imperial Hint re-rallied to go from a head back to a nose in front in his final Breeders’ Cup Sprint prep. On Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park, he’ll be looking to do two better than in last year’s championships.
"It seemed like he was comfortable, and he was going to make it look easy," Carvajal Jr. said, "but Firenze Fire came back on the outside and he got a surprise from that horse. He's small, but you can see he has heart."
The “Little Rocket,” as the 6-year-old by Imperialism is known, clicked off fractions of 22.11 and 44.65, out-gunning Firenze Fire from the gate. But he met a challenge to his outside down the stretch en route to finishing six furlongs in 1:08.35.
This marked a repeat Vosburgh score. A race ago, Imperial Hint also went back to back in Saratoga’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) following a trip to Dubai.
Aside from Firenze Fire, wasn’t much to beat in this final prep, as a field of six scratched down to four with connections to Imperial Hint’s primary rivals Promises Fulfilled and Call Paul opting to run elsewhere.
Brown Buckeye and American Power completed the running order in the field of four.
"My horse came into the race in perfect condition," Carvajal Jr. said. "Javier said that he was so confident. These are two very nice horses. This was a great race. This was the kind of race that you wanted to see, even though at 1-5 you want to win easy, it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't."
"He showed the talent he has today," Castellano added. "He can win by 10 lengths or win by a nose. No matter what, he knows how to get it [done]. I'm very proud of him."
A Florida-bred campaigned by Raymond Mamone, Imperial Hint returned $2.50 to win while improving his record to 14-2-3 in 23 career starts with earnings surpassing $2 million.