Doc Sullivan cruises to victory, NYRA Photo
Keith McCalmont
Tristar Farm’s Doc Sullivan relished a turnback in distance to post an emphatic 5 1/2-length score in Saturday’s $125,000 Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, a seven-furlong sprint for eligible New York-sired 3-year-olds and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by John Ortiz and piloted by Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, the 4-year-old Solomini dark bay entered from a neck defeat to returning rival Bank Frenzy in the nine-furlong Empire Classic against fellow New York-breds on October 25 here.
He picked up his third stakes win following state-bred scores sprinting seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course in last year’s Mike Lee and the John Morrissey in July.
“He always tries hard, this horse, and I thought seven-eighths was perfect for him,” Rosario said. “He won going that distance before, so that was good. He ran great. He always breaks sharp, and he was the best horse in the race.”
Dr. Kraft broke alertly under Flavien Prat and showed the way through an opening quarter-mile in 22.92 seconds over the sloppy and sealed main track while pressed by Doc Sullivan from the outside. Bank Frenzy, with Manny Franco up, stalked from third position down the backstretch as Dr. Kraft took the field into the turn while Doc Sullivan ramped up the pressure with the half-mile clocked in 45.79.
Doc Sullivan was in front at the stretch call but drifted out, allowing a game Dr. Kraft an opportunity to fight on as Bank Frenzy tried and failed to make up ground on the leaders. Rosario straightened his charge out and was rampant with a sixteenth to run as Dr. Kraft kept on and Bank Frenzy tried a belated inside move to no avail as Doc Sullivan surged home in a final time of 1:22.31. Dr. Kraft, who was fifth last out in the Empire Classic, completed the exacta by 1 1/2-lengths over Bank Frenzy with Jackson Heights and General Banker rounding out the order of finish.
“He just kept moving. I kept him busy because sometimes he likes to wait a little bit, but I think he was the best in the competition today. He was strong,” said Rosario, who has piloted Doc Sullivan in each of his last five outings which included close fourth-place finishes sprinting seven-furlongs in the Grade 1 Forego in August at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Vosburgh presented by Army Mule in September here ahead of his Empire Classic try.
Daniel Ortiz, assistant and brother of winning trainer John Ortiz, said he was pleased with the effort.
“We came into this really confident after a big effort last time, and kudos to Bank Frenzy – it’s always fun when you have another horse to rival you,” Ortiz said. “We’re so happy he got the job done. He showed a lot of confidence and I’m glad he did it with ease. It’s great for the whole [team].”
Bred in the Empire State by Seamus Coughlan, Doc Sullivan, a $59,000 purchase at the 2023 OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale, banked $68,750 in victory while improving his record to 19-6-6-2. He returned $3.40 for a $2 win bet as the post-time favorite.
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card featuring the $150,000 Forever Together in Race 4 and the Grade 3, $150,000 Pebbles in Race 8. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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