© Coglianese photo

Saturday, Belmont Park
WESTCHESTER S.-GIII, $142,500, BEL, 4-28, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:34 4/5, ft.
1--TO HONOR AND SERVE, 121, c, 4, by Bernardini
1st Dam: Pilfer (SW, $126,360), by Deputy Minister
2nd Dam: Misty Hour, by Miswaki
3rd Dam: Our Tina Marie, by Nijinsky II
($250,000 wlng '08 KEENOV; $575,000 yrl '09 KEESEP). O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Twin Creeks Farm, Larry Byer & Rancho San Miguel (KY); T-William I Mott; J-Jose Lezcano; $90,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 12-7-1-2, $1,236,340. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus.* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.




2--Boys At Tosconova, 119, c, 4, Officer--Little Bonnet, by Coronado's Quest. ($25,000 wlng '08 KEENOV; $35,000 yrl '09 KEESEP). O-Jay Em Ess Stable, Hot Racing Stable LLC, R Hale Jr, T Cady, D Kanakaris; B-Hertrich/McCarthy Livestock LLC (KY); T-Richard E Dutrow Jr; $30,000.

3--Bold Deed, 117, g, 4, Anasheed--Boltono, by Unbridled's Song. O-Barry K Schwartz; B-Stonewall Farm (NY); T-Michael E Hushion; $15,000.

Margins: 5 1/4, 5, 5HF. Odds: 0.60, 2.15, 4.30.
Also Ran: Goombada Guska. Scratched: Jersey Town, Ponzi Scheme, Marilyn's Guy.
Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the Video, sponsored by Taylor Made Sales.
   Last seen taking the GI Cigar Mile H. at Aqueduct last November, Live Oak Plantation's To Honor and Serve picked up where he left off in this course-and-distance prep for the GI Metropolitan Mile H. May 28. A leading 2-year-old of his generation, with a sweep of Aqueduct's GII Nashua S. and GII Remsen S., To Honor and Serve was denied admission to the Triple Crown train and was shelved off a non-descript third in last year's GI Florida Derby. Sixth to Caleb's Posse (Posse) over an insufficient 6 1/2 furlongs in Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S. Aug. 1, he demolished a field of Saratoga allowance horses going two turns Aug. 26, then defeated GI Belmont S. hero Ruler On Ice (Roman Ruler) in the GII Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 24. The striking bay colt was a decent seventh behind his then barnmate Drosselmeyer (Distorted Humor) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 5, but came out of the race well enough for trainer Bill Mott to wheel him back on three weeks' rest in the Cigar Mile. He proved 1 3/4 lengths better than subsequent GISW Hymn Book (Arch) on that occasion and was hammered into long odds-on favoritism in the Westchester. Bold Deed, a half-brother to last weekend's GII Jerome S. hero The Lumber Guy (Grand Slam), was quickest into stride and showed the way through the opening couple of furlongs in a relatively easy :22.95, as To Honor and Serve raced freely in his seasonal debut. The pacesetter zipped his next quarter mile in a much more taxing :22.10 and led into the far turn, but that swift internal sectional would soon take its toll, as To Honor and Serve took aim on him at the quarter pole with ground-skimming strides. The Live Oak runner took command at will in upper stretch, opened a winning break and basically walked it in from the sixteenth pole. Boys at Tosconova rallied from last early to complete a chalky exacta. "He's been training well and we thought with a good effort he'd win the race, and he did," Mott commented. "He looked good. He was kind of idling down a bit at the wire. He made a nice move around the turn to catch the leader and it looked like he was holding everybody off well enough. He's obviously one of the leaders right there [in the handicap division]. We're fortunate."