OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For all the success trainer Wesley Ward has had in turf sprints throughout his career, it was somewhat surprising he had never put Clock Tower in one.
Ward rectified that Saturday at Aqueduct, cutting Clock Tower back to six furlongs in the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes, and the 3-year-old gelding scored a front-running, 1 1/2-length victory over 42-1 shot Flat to Da Mat. It was a neck back to Insubordination in third.
One reason Clock Tower had yet to sprint on turf was because he twice won going a mile last year, including a victory in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar. Ward had Clock Tower entered in the one-mile James Murphy at Pimlico on May 17, but scratched him out of there due to a concern over soft turf from several days’ worth of rain.
In cutting Clock Tower back to a sprint distance Saturday, Ward expected the gelding to come from off the pace. Junior Alvarado, riding Clock Tower for the first time, thought the same thing, especially in a race that appeared to have ample speed in it.
But when the doors opened, Clock Tower broke sharp and was able to hit the front while running a quarter in a moderate 22.52 seconds and a half-mile in 45.66 seconds. He had Jet Sweep Joe and jockey Joseph Bealmear directly to his outside. Alvarado thought the tempo was quick.
“I said to the kid next to me, ‘Man, we’re flying, we’re going too fast,’ ” Alvarado said. “His horse stopped, but mine kept going.”
After putting away Jet Sweep Joe, Clocker Tower opened up a 1 1/2-length advantage in midstretch, one he kept to the wire as Flat to Da Mat rallied under Dylan Davis for second.
Clock Tower, owned by Fitriani Hay, covered the six furlongs in 1:09.49 over an outer turf course listed as good and returned $9.30 to win.
“This horse had been running mile races, so I knew he was going to have the air to keep going,” Alvarado said. “When they let me go on the lead, I was just hoping he’d hold it together, and he did.”
Jet Sweep Joe, the longest shot on the board at 55-1, finished fourth followed, in order, by Assertiveness, Supersonic Blue, Warheart, Pivotal Moment, the 3-2 favorite, and Super Swift.
The Alvarado-Ward combination has gone 6 for 10 over the last 17 months and is 8 for 24 overall.
“He’s my lucky rider,” Ward said. I’ve had great success with that kid.”
Ward said Clock Tower would likely be kept sprinting for his next start. One option is the Jersey Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting next month, an option his owners may favor since they live in England. A second option is the Grade 3, $175,000 Quick Call Stakes on July 13 at Saratoga.
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