OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Intricate Spirit and Longshoreman were setting blazing early fractions down the backstretch in Friday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Futurity Stakes at Aqueduct. Being on the inside of that duel, Joel Rosario, aboard Intricate Spirit, didn’t like his position.
“It looked like we were going fast. I didn’t want to continue in there,” said Rosario, who was correct, as the opening quarter mile was run in 21.31 seconds.
So at the end of the straightaway, Rosario took a slight hold of Intricate Spirit to let Longshoreman and Manny Franco go so Rosario could get his horse to the outside. Once Rosario reengaged at the quarter pole, Intricate Spirit was well positioned for the stretch drive, and he outfinished Longshoreman to win the Futurity by 1 3/4 lengths. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Attfield.
Not far behind were, in order, Expressway, Belgian, and Channel the Music. Outfielder and No Pressure scratched.
The victory was the second in three starts for Intricate Spirit, a 2-year-old son of Complexity owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables, and Kenneth and Gail Beitz.
Intricate Spirit had plenty of speed, and trainer Miguel Clement wanted Rosario to use it. But when he saw how fast the early pace was, Clement was okay with Rosario taking back.
“Instructions were to break well and go forward. He decided to call an audible and he was probably right,” Clement said. “They were going very fast early on [43.91 seconds for a half-mile] which you don’t see that often on this turf course. It didn’t matter. The best horse won.”
Intricate Spirit covered the six furlongs in 1:07.98 and returned $7.82 as the second choice. The victory earned Intricate Spirit a fees-paid berth into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Oct. 31.
Franco, on Longshoreman, said Rosario getting his horse to the outside was probably the winning move.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “At the same time, I wanted my horse to do what [trainer Wesley Ward] wanted me to do, and he wanted me to be on the lead. Second best.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.