Senbei finished full of run down the center of the course to register a 1 1/4-length victory over the pace-dueling Nothing Better in the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Stakes, becoming a graded stakes winner for the first time while in the process giving trainer Christophe Clement back to back graded stakes wins Saturday at Aqueduct. Just thirty minutes earlier, Clement sent out Carson’s Run and Deterministic to finish first and second respectively in the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby Invitational.
Senbei has found himself a home over the Aqueduct turf course, having won his first start over the strip three months earlier when using a similar late surge to capture a mid-priced allowance/optional-claiming race at the same six-furlong distance as the Belmont Turf Sprint. He sandwiched those two wins around a third-place finish, when beaten a head, in Monmouth’s Select Stakes on August 17.
With Manny Franco back aboard, Senbei settled off the early pace contested by Determined Kingdom and Nothing Better. Senbei came a bit wide off the turn, then finished with a flourish after switching leads a tad late near the furlong marker, readily running down the leaders to win going away.
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Nothing Better, the tepid 2-1 favorite, broke very alertly to set the early pace, was joined for the lead to his inside by Determined Kingdom after the opening quarter-mile, stuck his head back in front once again while being carried out by that rival in late stretch, and could not contain the winner in the end. Alogon raced forwardly off the early leaders, continued on willingly while also forced out some through midstretch but lacked the necessary late response, finishing third, another half-length behind Nothing Better and a nose in front of the rail-skimming Son of a Birch who was fourth.
Senbei, a son of Candy Ride, is owned in partnership by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Darlene Bilinski. He completed the distance in 1:07.74 over a firm course, paid $10.00, and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Manny Franco gave this horse a great trip. I thought he was cruising on the turn then exploded in the stretch,” Clement said. “This horse had one or two decent races on the turf last year and Mr. [Dean] Reeves was okay to be patient and try. He had lost his form on the dirt and the grass brought him back. The problem with the grass is you need to have a little bit of racing luck and he’s not always been lucky. But today I thought he was very impressive.”
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