Romansh more than made up for his two previous unplaced efforts when he rolled to a convincing 9 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 2 Discovery Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack (VIDEO).
The 5-2 second choice in the field of eight, the son of Bernardini registered his third victory in seven starts in the 1 1/8-mile contest, which he completed in 1:48.28. The dark bay or brown colt is trained by Tom Albertrani for the Maktoum family's Godolphin Racing.
Midnight Taboo set the early in pace, clicking off fractions of 23:49, 47:46, and 1:11.76. Vegas No Show took over the lead at the three quarters pole, but began weakening when nearing the final turn.
Romansh, who had been stalking the pace in third, began gaining on his rivals and was just length off the lead down the backstretch. Under jockey Jose Ortiz, he took over the first position in the turn for home and kept increasing his advantage to the wire, leaving his opponents struggling in his wake.
Romansh completed the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:48.28 at odds of 2-1. Norumbega, an outsider at odds of 13-1, got up for second, a length in front of third-place finisher Micromanage . Completing the order of finish were Battier, Mr Palmer, favored Midnight Taboo, Vegas No Show, and Bad Hombre.
"I rode the horse with a lot of confidence because he had been running against better horses," said Ortiz of Romansh. "I was just a passenger. I raced in third, outside everybody, and had a beautiful trip. It turned out great."
Bred in Kentucky by Darley and Lynn Schiff, Romansh was a $750,000 purchase at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga select yearling sale. He is out of the Go for Gin mare Cologny.
Romansh broke his maiden on his third try at Belmont Park May 25, followed by a victory via a disqualification in the July 26 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. In his two outings prior to the Discovery, he finished a distant fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Aug. 24 Travers (gr. I) and the Sept. 21 Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II).
"After the Pennsylvania Derby, we gave him a little time off and pointed to this race," said Pedro Mateo, assistant to Albertrani. "We were rebuilding. At Parx Racing (in the Pennsylvania Derby), he might not have liked the track when finishing sixth. You never know. But he had been training very well coming in to today and we were hopeful he would run the way he did over the summer. We always thought he was a nice horse and now he's maturing. He'll be going to Florida for the winter next week."
Romansh's career record now stands at 3-0-1 from seven starts, for earnings of $283,580. He paid $7.90, $5.50, and $3.30, while Norumbega, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, paid $2.40 and $4.90 to place, and Micromanage, piloted by Irad Ortiz Jr., returned $2.10 to show.
