OLDSMAR - When they discussed the Lambholm South Race of the Week Saturday morning, trainer Michael Trombetta instructed jockey Daniel Centeno to try to break sharply aboard the speedy 3-year-old colt Arzak and hustle him to the lead.

    “I told him I thought he would find himself on the lead, because he has sprinter’s speed,” Trombetta said from Maryland, where he won two races at Laurel. “But that all went out the window as soon as the doors opened.”

    However, Centeno said he wasn’t overly concerned when Arzak broke tardily from the outside, forcing the rider to play catch-up in the 1-mile allowance/optional claiming turf event.

    “I was surprised he broke a little slow, but I think that helped me,” Centeno said after Arzak rolled to a 3 ¼-length victory on the turf in a time of 1:36.02. “Coming from sprinting to going two turns for the first time, he relaxed pretty well. On the backside, he was dragging me all the way, and when I asked him at the quarter pole he responded really well and finished strong. He is an easy horse to ride and it worked out perfect."

    Joe Man Joe finished second and Major Frontier was third in the eight-horse field.

BIG SCORE: The 20-cent Ultimate 6 was hit for $113,641, with a lone bettor correctly selecting all six winners of races 5-through-10. The numbers were 7-9-3-9-8-9. Everyone else starts anew today.

    Arzak’s victory was his second in three career starts. The son of Not This Time-Delightful Melody, by Tapit, was purchased by Marc Tacher’s Sonata Stable at the 2020 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Spring Sale of 2-year-olds for $575,000.

    After Arzak finished off the board in his career debut on Oct. 7 sprinting on the main track at Delaware, he won going wire-to-wire in a 12-horse field on Nov. 8, sprinting 6 furlongs in 1:09.84 on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine.

    “He didn’t run well on the dirt, and that’s why we went all the way to Woodbine with him,” Trombetta said. “The big questions today were how far he would go and if he would like the turf, and he sure seemed to. We might look at training him up to the Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream” (on the grass on Feb. 27).

    Being able to handle the turf and winning for fun while going around two turns for the first time are signs that racing fans will be hearing from Arzak on even bigger stages down the line.

AROUNDTHE OVAL: Count trainer Monica McGoey among those folks glad the calendar has turned to 2021. She has won with four of her five starters this month, with Clarist’s maiden-breaking victory in the seventh race giving the conditioner her third consecutive victory. The 4-year-old Florida-bred filly is owned by Jose Rosales and was ridden by Manny Jimenez.



 

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