(Edited NYRA report)
Giuseppe Iadisernia’s Delosvientoswill try to become the first horse since Waquoit in 1987-88 to win back-to-back runnings of the grade II, $200,000 Brooklyn Handicap at 1 ½ miles at Belmont Park June 5.
Only Discovery (1934-’36), and Forego (1974-’76) have won three consecutive Brooklyn Handicaps. Triple Crown winner Assault won it in 1947 and 1949. Friday’s 121st running of the Brooklyn is the last and feature race on a 10-race live card that also includes the 35th running of the grade III, $100,000-added Hill Prince for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf.
A 6-year-old gelded son of the Brazilian-bred Siphon, Delosvientos has eight wins from 15 starts. There are no seconds, no thirds. When he runs his race, he’s on the lead and he either wins or he doesn’t. He will carry top weight on Friday of 120 pounds, conceding from two to six pounds to each of his nine rivals.
The Brooklyn, which he won last year by two lengths, fits Delosvientos to a tee. He has won four of five starts at the 1½-mile distance and has won two of three Belmont Park starts.
“He’s been great fun for us,” said Joseph Iadisernia Jr., a Florida State University student who is also his father’s assistant. “He is huge, and he is just great to be around. We’re not frustrated by him at all. He’s a tough horse and he always tries.”
Iadisernia, whose father came from Venezuela and eventually settled in South Florida to train horses, said Delosvientos has never been asked to rate.
“I’m sure he could rate if we asked him to, but we kind of let him run his own race,” Iadisernia said. “My father’s philosophy is, `Don’t overwork the horse,’ and he has stuck by that. His races are well-spaced, and that’s why he runs strong when he’s fresh.”
The exception to this rule was Delosvientos’ last race, when he finished last in the slop here on May 7. It was his only loss at 1 ½ miles.
“I don’t think the rain or the slop was an issue,” Iadisernia said. “It was his first race back (after winning Aqueduct’s Gallant Fox Handicap Dec. 31), and I think the layoff was more the reason he ran like he did. But he is doing real well right now, and he’s been at Belmont for about a week. Hopefully, he’ll run as big a race as he did last year.”
Trainer Tom Albertrani, who won three stakes at Belmont in May, will send Darley Stable’s Ea and Barrier Reef in the Brooklyn.
Ea, who will break from the rail, has one win and three seconds in four starts this year. Barrier Reef, a 4-year-old Mizzen Mast colt, has won three of four starts this year, all at Aqueduct.
A dangerous horse here could be Edward P. Evans’ Nite Light. Trained by Todd Pletcher, he was fifth in the Brooklyn last year and then did not start again until May 24, when he ran second at Monmouth Park. Prior to last year’s Brooklyn, the Thunder Gulch horse won four of five starts with one second.
Brooklyn Handicap (gr. II), $200,000, 1 ½ miles, 3-year-olds and up
PP--Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1--Ea, R A Dominguez, 116, T Albertrani
2--Nite Light, J R Velazquez, 116, T A Pletcher
3--Eldaafer, J F Chavez, 114, D Alvarado
4--Barrier Reef, R A Dominguez, 118, T Albertrani
5--Lord Kipling, E S Prado, 114, G C Contessa
6--Delosvientos, E Coa, 120, G Iadisernia
7--Fierce Wind, K J Desormeaux, 116, W Phipps
8--Alcomo, C H Velasquez, 118, E Caramori
9--Don Misil, R Maragh, 114, K P McLaughlin
10--Rising Moon, G K Gomez , 118, R E Dutrow, Jr.