Out On Bail (inside) battles Cyclonite for the victory. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
By Mary Eddy
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Case Chambers, Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s graded stakes-placed New York-bred Out On Bail returned to the winner’s circle with a determined nose victory over Cyclonite in Sunday’s $150,000 Carle Place, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.
Originally scheduled for Sunday, October 12, the Carle Place was rescheduled to the October 19 card due to a nor’easter that impacted the New York metropolitan area.
Trained by Mike Maker, Out On Bail notched his first win since taking the Skidmore last year at Saratoga Race Course as part of a six-start campaign that saw him hit the board in each outing. This year, he returned in May with a runner-up effort in the Listed William Walker at Churchill Downs and landed third in the Grade 3 Penn Mile at Penn National ahead of a last-out seventh in the Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson on September 6 at Kentucky Downs.
Guided to victory by Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, the gray son of Tiz the Law emerged from the inside post in the field of nine and preserved inside position to settle into third as the sharp-starting No Evidence was quickly overtaken by a freewheeling Fire Pit, who marked the opening quarter-mile in 22.61 seconds over the firm footing.
Cairo Caper was nudged along by Jaime Rodriguez in the three-path and to the outside of No Evidence as those two loomed large behind the stubborn pacesetter with Out On Bail still inside awaiting room to make his bid. Fire Pit clung to a precarious lead through the half-mile in 44.81, and Rosario angled his charge around the top trio, where he was met with Cyclonite to his outside as he attempted to hold his position and keep Out On Bail inside.
Out On Bail managed to angle out to make it five horses spread across the track as five-eighths elapsed in 56.53, and it was soon a two-horse race when Out On Bail and Cyclonite drew clear to duke it out through the final furlong. Both horses refused to yield, but it was Out On Bail whose nose hit the wire first in a final time of 1:08.64.
Rosario said he was thankful for Out On Bail’s game response when asked to angle out in tight quarters.
“I was in a good spot. The way the trip was working out, it looked like I had to come out at some point because there was no room inside,” Rosario said. “The horse responded, and it looked for a second like that horse [Cyclonite] was coming to get us, but my horse kept fighting. A lot of credit to the horse.”
Spiced Up rallied on for show honors with Landing Craft completing the superfecta. Forged Steel, Cairo Caper, Global Steve, Fire Pit and No Evidence completed the order of finish.
Dylan Davis, aboard Cyclonite for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, said he did his best to make Out On Bail and Rosario work for the victory.
“I wanted to break as best as possible and got a great spot. Joel opted to come outside, and I was trying to do my part to hold him in, but he had a lot of momentum and got out,” Davis said. “It was tight to the wire and my horse started coming back on there late and to be honest, I thought I had it but the photo said otherwise. He ran a great race.”
Bred in the Empire State by Matthew Nestor, Out On Bail was a $110,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the winning Street Cry mare Judge Lee. He improved his record to 10-3-4-2 and banked $82,500 in victory while returning $8.36 on a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Wednesday at Belmont at the Big A with an eight-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
