Godolphin’s Kentucky Derby hope Alpha has made a winning start to his campaign with victory in the Count Fleet, a traditional starting point for Triple Crown contenders at the Aqueduct.
It was the first stakes win for the son of Darley stallion and 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini who finished second in the Grade One Champagne at Belmont Park in October before a disappointing 11th in the Breeders Cup Juvenile.
Sent out the odds-one favourite and racing on Lasix for the first time, Alpha raced three wide throughout behind a slow pace before picking up his rivals in the stretch in a solid performance.
“Turning for home, he responded every time I asked him,” winning jockey Ramon Dominguez said.
“He galloped out so strong that I had to get an outrider to pull him up.
“You always have to go just by what you have seen, but judging by today he should be able to handle more distance.”
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Alpha would stay in New York to contest a series of races aimed at getting to the Triple Crown including the Wood Memorial on April 7.
On a successful day for Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed, McLaughlin also won the $100,000 Busanda Stakes with Darley’s Captivating Lass ridden by Mike Luzzi.
“It was a great day,” McLaughlin told the New York Racing Association website.
“We’ll probably leave him (Alpha) there and we’ll probably go to the Withers (February 4) and on to the Wood.”
On the other side of the country, Darley’s Out Of Bounds ended the unbeaten record of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle in the Grade Three Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.
Trained by Eoin Harty, Out Of Bounds wore down Secret Circle in the final stages of the race.
Sheikh Mohammed recently announced Godolphin horses in the United States would no longer race under main trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s name and would be shared among resident trainers.
Like the Melbourne Cup, the Kentucky Derby is high on the Dubai ruler’s list of international races he is keen to win.
AAP TURF
