Kentucky Derby trail: Firenze Fire proves best in Jerome Stakes
By Christine Oser
It took the entire Aqueduct stretch to get it done, but Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire wore down Seven Trumpets to take Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes by half a length, earning 10 additional points on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail.
Trained by Jason Servis and owned by Mr. Amore Stable, Firenze Fire has now accumulated 20 total qualifying points having already won last fall's Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park.
“Heading into the race, I thought he might be up against it,” said Servis. “It looked like there was a speed bias for most of the day on the track. He didn't have the easiest of trips. He didn't break on top and had to deal with some traffic, but I'm not going to knock the ride.
"Manny (Franco) got the job done. It's nice when things work it. They don't usually, but when they do it's nice."
Postponed from its original New Year's Day spot due to severe cold, the rescheduled Jerome retained six runners over the day’s muddy track. With no one quick to grab the lead, Dale Romans trainee Seven Trumpets led the field through slow opening fractions of :25.01 and :50.81 through the first half-mile.
Franco held Firenze Fire in the back of the field, but it wasn’t long before the favored colt started picking off horses. Glennwood dropped out of contention as Firenze Fire passed Regalian, Factor This and Coltandmississippi while running wide.
Seven Trumpets was still leading three-quarters through the race, ticking off another slow fraction in 1:16.72. The pace setter was all that Firenze Fire had left to catch as he began to grind down the home stretch. Seven Trumpets was game, but Firenze Fire got up to hit the wire first.
“I was on the best horse today,” said Franco. “The instructions were to try to break good and not give him too much to do. That's what I tried to do, but the race was a little tougher than we expected, but we got it done.
“The track is not good for the way my horse runs. It's a little bit deeper, which is why I almost didn't make it in time. I want to thank the owner and the trainer for letting me ride this horse today. He's a nice horse.”
Coltandmississippi got up for third, with Regalian, Factor This and Glennwood completing the order of finish. Smooth B and Old Time Revival were scratched.
The final time for a mile was a slow 1:42.88.
Firenze Fire, a homebred Florida colt by Poseidon’s Warrior, has now earned $539,100 from four wins in six starts.
As for future plans, “The [$250,000, Grade 3] Withers [February, 3] is certainly an option,” said Servis, “but I'll talk to the owners and we'll decide from there.”