Ewing (inside) nets first stakes win under Jose Ortiz. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
By Mary Eddy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – D.J. Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and Kenneth Freirich’s Ewing earned his first stakes score when overcoming a slow start in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juveniles, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the son of Knicks Go doubled up on Spa victories after dazzling with a 12-length romp on debut on July 5 in a 5 1/2-fuirlong maiden tilt where the $585,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
Ridden to victory by Jose Ortiz, who was aboard for the gray’s maiden coup, Ewing broke last in the field of four as the sharp starting mutuel favorite Obliteration rocketed to the front from the outside post under Flavien Prat, but Ortiz took advantage of his inside post to let his charge rush up the rail and arrest command through an opening quarter-mile in 22.26 over the fast footing.
“He [Prat] rode his plan – probably his plan was to have me inside of him in plain sight every step of the way,” Ortiz said. “I felt like I broke a step slow, and my horse took the lead by himself, so I was happy with that. From the three-eighths pole to the wire I knew it was a match race, so I let my horse go, I didn’t wait for him.”
Prat kept last-out Grade 3 Sanford-winner Obliteration within one length of Ewing down the backstretch and coaxed the son of Violence in the turn to match strides with the pacesetter and threaten as the half-mile elapsed in 45.41.
Ewing and Obliteration were wide exiting the turn, but Ewing again put daylight between him and Obliteration and had something in reserve for the final eighth, fending off his game rival to win by one length in a final time of 1:18.03.
Obliteration was 12 lengths ahead of Camigol in third with Thunder Chuck completing the order of finish. Comport, who is targeting the Ellis Park Juvenile, and Dazzle d’Oro, who was injured during training earlier this week and was subsequently humanely euthanized, were scratched.
Terry Finley, founder and president of West Point Thoroughbreds, said it is always special to win a stakes race at Saratoga.
“This is where you want to win,” Finley said. “I would’ve wished that the race was a little bit later, so the crowd was bigger, but we love Saratoga and appreciate all the hard work that the staff does. I mean that sincerely. They toil day after day to put on the show. We obviously run our horses, but it is a big team effort. This is the greatest business in the world and we’ve got to keep working to make it better and better.”
Casse said he was intrigued to see Ewing sweep past the Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen-trained Obliteration in the early stages.
“That was kind of crazy. We didn’t warm him up so he would kind of get away slow; so, he could settle. Jose said he settled for three strides. He’s fast,” Casse said. “I always tell them [jockeys], when the gate opens, it’s up to you to decide. He said he broke and took off and he wasn’t going to fight him. I was [happy] because I could see that Steve’s horse was struggling and I thought that the other thing is that that horse had never had anybody look him in the eye.”
Casse added he is inclined to target the one-mile Grade 3 Iroquois in September at Churchill Downs with Ewing and send out West Point Thoroughbreds’ impressive maiden-winner Curtain Call in the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful on September 1 here.
“Our horse got tired and is going to improve a lot from that, too. I want him to go farther, but what I want and what I get are sometimes different,” Casse said. “I’m proud of him today. He showed a lot of guts, and we’ll enjoy the victory and figure out the next. I think I’ll probably come back with Curtain Call in the Hopeful, and I may take this horse and run him at Churchill, probably the Iroquois. You know, he had every right to get beat today. I wheeled him back pretty quick and whatever, but he’s an extremely talented horse.”
Prat said the previously undefeated Obliteration, who won the six-furlong Sanford by 10 1/2 lengths on July 5 here two races after Ewing’s debut, had difficulty straightening out from the turn.
“I broke better than him [Ewing] and I made my run. It seemed like he [Ewing] wanted the lead,” Prat explained. “I was happy where I was. As soon as I get to the turn, he drifted out and I couldn’t get him into a straight path.”
Bred in Kentucky by John Gardiner, Ewing is out of the Indian Charlie mare Sassy Ali Joy, who also produced stakes-placed Tuscan Queen. He banked $110,000 in victory while returning $5.40 on a $2 win wager.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $175,000 Adirondack in Race 4 and the Grade 2, $300,000 Troy in Race 8. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
