TWO NEW GRADED STAKES WINNERS FOR SALES PROGRAM

Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens got the 2010 Belmont Park spring meet off to a flying start when Le Grand Cru edged away in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the $100,000 Westchester Stakes (gr. III) on opening day April 30.

Battling on the lead for jockey Cornelio Velasquez throughout the one-mile main track event, Le Grand Cru was shaken off on the turn for home by pacesetter Ironman Jon only to fire back in the lane to get control late, coming home in a solid time of 1:34.89 on a fast track.

Le Grand Cru, a 5-year-old son of Dynaformer, carried top weight of 121 pounds.“I didn’t think he’d be that big a long shot,” said Jerkens after claiming his sixth Westchester. “I don’t know why he didn’t run so well in Florida, but we gave him a rest and he had a couple of real nice works, just great.” Jerkens said he would consider the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) on May 31 next for Le Grand Cru.

Le Grand Cru has won three of four starts on the Belmont main track. Owned by Judson Streicher, Le Grande Cru was purchased by purchased by his owner from the Denali 2006 Keeneland September sale for $230,000. Denali sold the five-year-old multiple graded stakes winner for his breeder Earle Mack. Le Grand Cru won both the Kelso (gr. III) and Bold Ruler (gr. III) handicaps in New York last year and improved his lifetime record to 5-3-2 in 18 races with earnings of $433,578. The dark bay or brown horse was foaled in Kentucky from the El Gran Senor mare Ice the Champagne.

Earlier in the day WinStar Farm’s Doubles Partner, once considered a contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), posted an authoritative win in the $200,550 American Turf (gr. IIT) on the Kentucky Oaks day undercard.

The victory kicked off what could be a big weekend for WinStar, which sent out Super Saver to win the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) on May 1.

Settling in on the rail mid-pack early, Doubles Partner rated off the runaway lead of Lost Aptitude and Strike the Tiger, who set early fractions of :23.41, :46.87, and 1:11.03 over a firm turf while opening up on the rest of the field by 13 lengths after a half-mile.

Doubles Partner began making up ground around the turn under Garrett Gomez, switching outside of Strike the Tiger at the quarter pole before making a powerful run for the wire and finishing 1 3/4 lengths in front.

“I had a perfect trip, I really did,” Gomez said “I was able to follow two horses that were following the leaders. I just followed behind them for the first three-eighths of a mile. I got to the second turn and I was actually going to move out around them.

“Just as I started to commit myself to go around them the horse Alan Garcia was on (Saint Eligius) started getting out real bad and left me enough room to drive my truck through. I slid up the fence after the leaders cleared out. You couldn’t have written a better script on how to ride both fences around the turns and be able to get out. It was a very nice trip and this was a good day to have it on.”

The Todd Pletcher trainee had a final time of 1:41.05 for the 1 1/8-mile event. “We thought early on he lacked a little focus, but he’s a lot more professional and settled now,” Pletcher said.

A $450,000 yearling purchase from the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale, Doubles Partner was bred in Florida by Arthur Appleton and sold by Denali Stud. Prior to the American Turf, the bay colt by Rock Hard Ten –Serena’s Sister, by Rahy, was best known for defeating Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s brother, Lentenor, in a 1 1/8 mile turf allowance event Feb. 17. Doubles Partner now owns a record of 3-0-1 from 7 lifetime starts. He earned $119,367 for the victory, boosting his career total to $184,090.