By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON, KY—After yielding to Split The House
at the quarter, Tony Alagna-trainee Artspeak sat patiently in the pocket before
pulling out at the three-quarter pole and rallying to the wire whilst holding
off the bid of Lost For Words in his 1:47.4 triumph in the $450,000 Tattersalls
Pace on Saturday, Oct. 10 at The Red Mile.
Scott Zeron sent Artspeak to the top heading to
the opening quarter, passing it in :27. Split The House soon tipped first over
and cleared the lead before the half, timed in :53. Enjoying no pressure on the
lead, Artspeak generated a challenge that created a 1:20.1 third-quarter, and
was soon alongside the pacesetter. Lost For Words, tracking Artspeak into the
stretch, fanned wide and accelerated towards Artspeak, but Artspeak dug in and
fought off Lost For Words, hitting the wire in 1:47.4. Rock N’ Roll World was
third, and In The Arsenal was fourth.
Sired by Western Ideal from the Artsplace mare
The Art Museum, Artspeak collected his fifth win in 15 starts this year, paying
$8.20 to win. He races for the interests of Brittany Farms, Marvin Katz, Joe
Sbrocco, and In The Gym Partners.
“I really respect Split The House,” Scott Zeron
said. “He beat me one day when he followed me [in the New Jersey Classic at the
Meadowlands], so I knew we were following a great horse there. I’ve always
wanted my horse to be in a spot like that with fractions [like that], and he
delivered.”
“I was pretty enthused in the post parade just
by the way he felt,” Zeron also said. “To come back off of two heats [in the
Little Brown Jug] and to be that strong and aggressive, and to go a lifetime
mark of 1:47[.4], is impressive.”
“We’ve had a great meet,” Tony Alagna said.
“We’ve had a lot of horses step up. Our two two-year-olds yesterday were
fantastic [American Passport and Racing Hill]. We brought this horse down here
hoping we could get the mark he deserved and it worked out tonight; he got his
[1]:47-and-change mark. We couldn’t be more pleased with him.”
“He came down here, he was undefeated, and when
I warmed him up the second week, the track was wet,” Alagna also said regarding
bringing Artspeak to Lexington last year. “It [the track] was real punchy
underneath, and, of course, hindsight’s never wrong: I should’ve pulled his
back shoes that day because he had stifled joints and cords were getting to him
late in the mile; that’s why he got rough. Today was a nice redemption for the
horse because he deserves it. I’ve been telling people all year that this horse
is racing a lot better than people realize, and he showed that today.”
“With the support of my customers, we bought
some really nice stuff [yearlings] this year. I’ve got a great staff. They give
me the ability to go out and look at horses and do what I need to do. They do a
great job for me here at The Red Mile when I’m out doing what I need to do in
the days and the nights. It’s been a great meet.”
