Donegal Momentum. (Susie Raisher)
By Mary Eddy
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Donegal Racing’s Donegal Momentum scored a wire-to-wire victory under Kendrick Carmouche in Thursday’s $135,000 Gio Ponti, a one-mile inner turf route for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.
Trained by Tom Morley, the son of Uncle Mo is now a perfect 2-for-2 over turf after making the surface switch last out with a gutsy nose victory in a 1 1/16-mile allowance tilt on August 24 at Saratoga Race Course. He adds to a dominant debut victory on dirt in May here when defeating elders by 8 1/4 lengths to garner a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
Carmouche, who rode for the first time as the colt’s regular Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano recovers from a hand injury, said a sharp start helped carry him gate-to-wire.
“Last time he stumbled a little. I thought he was a little anxious in the gate last time with Javi when I watched the replay,” Carmouche explained. “Today, I warmed him up like they told me to, and he broke from there running. I didn’t have no reason to send him out of there – he fell into the right spot, and I just had to slow it down from there and make every pole a winning one”
Donegal Momentum emerged from post 8-of-10 and quickly made the front while crossing over to the two-path to set splits of 23.82 seconds and 48.14 over the firm footing with Full Nelson tracking in second and Take Me To Church stalking along the rail in third.
Take Me To Church was given his cue approaching the final turn and crept up the rail as a collected Carmouche nudged along Donegal Momentum with Piper’s Factor angling three-wide from fourth. Donegal Momentum maintained command into the stretch after three-quarters in 1:11.66 as Full Nelson and Piper’s Factor retreated, leaving Take Me To Church to loom in second after swinging off the rail under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
A surging Royal Majesty, who tracked in eighth down the backstretch, found a seam up the inside to make a late bid with an eighth of a mile to go, but there was no reeling in Donegal Momentum as he kept on well through the final sixteenth to win by two lengths in a final time of 1:35.64. Royal Majesty ran on bravely up the rail to nab Take Me To Church by a neck for place while The Process ran on late for fourth.
Vesting, Piper’s Factor, Palm Tree, In a Jam, Full Nelson and Ruddy Buddy completed the order of finish. Yo Daddy, who is entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby here, was scratched. Also-eligibles Mission North, Main Beach and main track-only entrant Silver Satin were also scratched.
Carmouche added Donegal Momentum is right at home on the turf.
“He was pretty much floating along. I was riding him, but he was just floating. By the time I Iooked underneath my arm past the three-sixteenths, I just cocked my whip, and he still had the same stride,” Carmouche said. “The stride on this horse is so smooth. I never felt one like this in a while on the grass that just glides over the top. He’s pretty cool to ride.”
Bred in Kentucky by Speedway Stable, Donegal Momentum followed his impressive debut victory with a half-length second against elders in a one-mile allowance over the Big A main track in June. He went on to finish a distant fourth in the Grade 2 Amsterdam sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs over the Spa main track in July ahead of his successful switch to turf.
The $375,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale banked $74,250 in victory while improving his lifetime record to 5-3-1-0 and returning $10.80 on a $2 win ticket.
Junior Alvarado, aboard the Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained Royal Majesty, said emerging from post 9-of-10 hindered his chances today.
“I got out of there forward, but I couldn’t be as close as I wanted to,” Alvarado explained. “Maybe with an inside draw and going forward, I would have got a little closer. I ended up a little further back than I wanted to. We came with a run, but we were just a little too late at the end.”
Live racing resumes Friday at the Big A with an eight-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $175,000 Futurity – a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint – in Race 5 and the Grade 3, $200,000 Waya in Race 7. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
