No Bien Ni Mal stays perfect in U.S. with Greenwood Cup victory. (Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)
Anthony Affrunti/Parx Racing
BENSALEM, Pa.—A steady, patient ride by Hall of Fame jockey Joel Rosario led No Bien Ni Mal to victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Greenwood Cup Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths at Parx Racing. No Bien Ni Mal won the 1 1/2-mile Greenwood Cup in 2:31.23 over the main track listed as fast.
No Bien Ni Mal sat third through the opening quarter-mile in :25.13 while Digital Ops and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. set the pace under a close watch by Double Your Money and jockey Melvis Gonzalez. After a half in :49.22, then 6 furlongs in 1:15.19, Gonzalez began to shift Double Your Money into battle to the outside of Digital Ops while Repo Rocks, after a slow start, began to inch up into fourth.
Approaching the quarter-pole, No Bien Ni Mal made a sweeping move along the outside while Double Your Money took command from a tiring Digital Ops amid a closing run from Praetorian Guard. Turning for home, No Bien Ni Mal advanced alongside a tough foe in Double Your Money and drifted clear to win. Double Your Money finished 7 3/4 lengths clear of longshot Praetorian Guard, who bested fourth-place finisher Digital Ops by 13 1/4 lengths.
The Brazilian-bred ridgling by Hofberg is now perfect through two starts in the U.S. and owns six victories from 12 starts. The Paulo Lobo-trainee made his stateside debut in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course, where he closed to win by a head in allowance company.
Saturday’s win was the first at Parx Racing for Lobo and owner Duplo Ouro Stables LLC.
No Bien Ni Mal, the 3-5 favorite, paid $3.40 to win.
Quotes
Winning trainer Paulo Lobo: “He used to run in South America long distances. All the pedigree is for distance. He has a bright future here. A very bright future. I nominated him for Churchill Downs, but it’s his second race and I tried to come a little easier with him. I’m building him for next year. We have big races next year. This is a very good horse. We are thinking big on this horse. Maybe Dubai next year. He’s a very good horse.”
Winning jockey Joel Rosario: “It looked like he wanted to go, and he was up in the race. It looked like everything was going easy and he was in hand the whole time. It was easy for him. Turning for home, I just let him go and he went. He came to the paddock shaking his head and it looked like he was feeling happy. He finished and he was still doing the same. He is a good horse. I was not too concerned at all (about the distance). He looked like he could run all day. The whole way around, he was taking me nice. I just wanted to give him a good trip and make him nice and comfortable. He was the best horse for sure.”
Trainer Benjamin Dunn (Double Your Money, second): “I’ve been trying to run him a mile and a half since the first time I breezed this horse. He gallops out like no other horse. Most of his races you can’t pull him up. He ends up at the three-eighths pole with the outrider. He’s got speed and he can throw 25 second quarters all day. I knew the Brazilian horse (No Bien Ni Mal) was going to make a run at us and he’s a very nice horse. He just hooked us, and we couldn’t make up that little bit of ground. If I could have run him 2 1/2 miles today, I would have and liked my chances even more. The longer the better.”
