In trainer Jimmy DiVito’s educated opinion, two things made the difference when Recount won a three-horse fight to the finish in the Grade III $125,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity and when he was third behind Saturday’s runner-up, Private Prospect, in last month’s $125,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile.
“The lights and the fact he didn’t show the speed I thought he’d show,” DiVito said, explaining the factors he believes worked against the Illinois-bred in the Aug. 9 race under the lights at the Iowa track. “He broke a little funny because of the lights and he kept checking himself.
“He’s a natural speed horse (and he made a four-wide move in trying to come from behind in the stretch).”
In the paddock before the Futurity, DiVito told jockey Emmanuel Esquivel to send Recount to the lead and let him run on his own.”
Private Prospect immediately engaged him and they stayed 1-2 until they hit the stretch in the 7-furlong race run on Arlington’s Polytrack. After dropping back to third for a few strides, Private Prospect then made a resolute move and not only did he reclaim second he edged a smidgen in front of pace-setting Recount.
More Top Picks Best Monitors For Macbook Pro Air
But then Recount battled back to reclaim the lead and they dueled to the wire with stretch-running One Go All Go joining the fray.
The photo-finish camera showed Recount a bobbing head in front of Private Prospect with another bobbing head separating Private Prospect and One Go All Go.
“I’m pretty disappointed because he didn’t show me a little more turn of foot down the lane,” said Private Prospect’s jockey, Jesse Campbell, who came from Woodbine where he has been based for the last four years to ride the colt for his father, trainer Mike Campbell. “He broke well and had a perfect trip. He had the winner collared and couldn’t get by him.”
For Esquivel, it was the first graded stakes triumph of his career and his first stakes victory at Arlington International Racecourse, where he was last year’s champion jockey as an apprentice.
“It’s really exciting,” Esquivel said. “It’s like winning your first race.”
Recount was clocked in 1:24.25 in winning for the second time in three starts for owner Richard Templer. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the field of seven 2-year-olds, he paid $5.80, $3.20 and $2.80.
“One of the great things about him is he’s an Illinois-bred,” DiVito said of the gelded son of Limehouse and the broodmare Lucky In Love. “There are a lot of rich races out there for Illinois-breds.”
In the Futurity’s sister race, the $100,000 Lassie Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, the winner was Quality Rocks. Winning for the second time in as many starts for owner Janet Grube and trainer William Helmbrecht, the 4-1 second betting choice benefited from a carefully calculated ride from jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr.
Quality Rocks stalked the pace-setting even-money favorite Sarah Sis until the top of the stretch when she edged ahead. She then went on to win by 31/2 lengths and kick back payoffs of $10.40, $4 and $3.40.
“When Sarah Sis went to the lead I just took my filly back and she settled beautifully,” Homeister said. “When I asked her in the stretch, she was gone.”
Quality Rocks was timed in 1:24.88, a stakes record time for the 7-furlong distance. The race was last run at 7 furlongs in 1987 but that was before Arlington put down its Polytrack surface on the main track.