Delosvientos loped along on the lead of a $200,000 Brooklyn Handicap (gr. II)(VIDEO) that was extended to the 1 ½ mile distance, and the easy fractions he set enabled him to steal home the winner of the June 6 event at Belmont Park. Evening Attire, the Kelly family’s hard-knocking 10-year-old contender, finished second.
Contested at 1 1/2 miles for the first time since 1990, the Brooklyn was increased in distance to serve as a prep race for this year's inaugural running of the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Dirt Marathon – and the dark bay Delosvientos is quickly setting himself up as a key contender for that Oct. 25 event. The Brooklyn was his third consecutive score, all garnered most impressively with the 5-year-old son of Siphon proving much the best in wire-to-wire romps for owner/trainer Giussepe Iadisernia.
Delosvientos came into the Brooklyn off an easy 2 ¼-length win in the May 15 Fit to Fight Stakes, in which he bested Evening Attire, after crushing his competition in a Feb. 15 allowance event going 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park. The lone speed in the Brooklyn’s six-horse field, he was able to set easy fractions of :24.22, :48.11, and 1:12.74 under jockey Eibar Coa. Nite Light, the 8-5 favorite, ran second, while Angliana and Imawildandcrazyguy traded third and fourth nearly in tandem. Sightseeing was fifth, while Evening Attire broke slowly and trailed the field per his usual running style.
"I kind of had to push him a little bit going to the first turn," said Coa. "But he finished really well.”
"I kind of had to push him a little bit going to the first turn," said Coa. "But he finished really well.”
They went a mile in 1:37.65, with Angliana inching up and Nite Light fighting back to defend his second-place spot. Evening Attire, meanwhile, was closing with 16 lengths to make up on the field as they hit the quarter pole in 2:03.91. The 10-year-old gelding swung wide down the center of the track in pursuit of Delosvientos, but the leader was clear by five lengths and held his advantage by two as they went under the wire.
Angliana hung on for third, while Sightseeing, Nite Light, and Imawildandcrazyguy completed the order of finish. Awfully Smart scratched.
"He’s been great ever since he won his maiden," said Giuseppe Iadisernia Jr., assistant trainer to his father. "It was probably a mistake to put him on the turf (in the Jan. 4 Canadian Turf Handicap, gr. III, when he finished 11th). He runs his race every time. Once he’s in front, he’s fine.”
Angliana hung on for third, while Sightseeing, Nite Light, and Imawildandcrazyguy completed the order of finish. Awfully Smart scratched.
"He’s been great ever since he won his maiden," said Giuseppe Iadisernia Jr., assistant trainer to his father. "It was probably a mistake to put him on the turf (in the Jan. 4 Canadian Turf Handicap, gr. III, when he finished 11th). He runs his race every time. Once he’s in front, he’s fine.”
Of Evening Attire, trainer Patrick Kelly said: "In the barn today, he had his game face on early. I’m always happy when he’s in the money. It was fun to try.”
Sent off at odds of 2-1, Delosvientos returned $6.60, $4.90, and $3.70. Evening Attire and jockey Cornelio Velasquez paid $7.50 and $4.20, while Angliana brought $4.30 under Rajiv Maragh.
Bred in Kentucky by Hermitage Farm and David A. Jones out of the Cryptoclearance mare Secret Psalm, Delosvientos was a $15,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2004. He RNAed for $13,000 at the OBS spring sale of 2-year-olds in training in 2005, but has gone on to record six wins from eleven starts with earnings of $251,370.
(Chart, Equibase)
