Structor stepped up from the maiden ranks with aplomb, becoming the first graded stakes winner for his freshman sire Palace Malice (Curlin) in Belmont's GIII Pilgrim S. Saturday. A $160,000 KEESEP yearling turned $850,000 OBSMAR juvenile after breezing in :21 1/5, he donned cap and gown by 1 1/4 lengths in his two-turn turf debut at Saratoga Aug. 31. The 5-2 chalk ran two-wide in a three-way battle for third as pace-setting Tuggle (Point of Entry) was pressed by Maxwell Esquire (Discreet Cat) through a :47.23 half-mile. Advancing on the top two on the backstretch, the Chad Brown pupil drew even while three wide turning for home and took control as the top two folded in early stretch. The bay was instantly joined by Andesite to his inside, but that foe never seriously threatened Structor, who forged clear late to win by a neck. Our Country made a bold late run to complete the trifecta.
“I was proud of this horse [knowing] how wide he had to travel the whole way,” said Brown. “No fault of the jockey, just his post and the way some horses wedged their way in there early. He gutted it out. This was a solid pace, :47 and change traveling three deep into the turn. To have enough to gut it out, I think he wouldn't mind a cutback to a mile at all in the [GI] Breeders' Cup [Juvenile Turf]. He's an improving horse.”
“I didn't want to go that wide, but I didn't have any other option,” said winning rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. “If I wanted to drop in some more, I would have to keep taking him back and I didn't want to do that. He needed the race. I think he will improve. The first time was a slow pace and he just finished. Today, he moved little more in the beginning. He needed the race to get to the next level. He did everything perfectly. He's a nice horse. He's got some talent. I think he's going to get to the next level.”
Pedigree Notes:
Structor is the first graded stakes winner and second black-type winner for his freshman sire Palace Malice, victor of the 2013 GI Belmont S. and 2014 GI Met Mile. He is also the 90th stakes winner and 36th black-type winner out of a daughter of More Than Ready. The winner's dam Miss Always Ready, a full sister to GII Breeders' Cup Fillies Juvenile Turf heroine More Than Real, was purchased by Three Chimneys, who stands Palace Malice, for $400,000 at the 2014 Keeneland April Sale. Structor was her first foal and she has since produced a yearling filly by Malibu Moon and a weanling filly by Palace Malice. She was bred to both Will Take Charge and Gun Runner this spring.
Saturday, Belmont Park
PILGRIM S.-GIII, $200,000, Belmont, 9-28, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.46, fm.
1–STRUCTOR, 120, c, 2, by Palace Malice
1st Dam: Miss Always Ready, by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Miss Seffens, by Dehere
3rd Dam: Noise Enough, by Bold Ruckus
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($160,000
Ylg '18 KEESEP; $850,000 2yo '19 OBSMAR). O-Jeff Drown &
Don Rachel; B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$159,500. *Second stakes winner for freshman sire (by Curlin).
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating:
D+.
2–Andesite, 120, c, 2, The Factor–Ahh, by Saint Liam. ($40,000
Ylg '18 FTKOCT; $90,000 2yo '19 OBSMAR). O-Kent Spellman &
Madaket Stables, LLC; B-Stoneway Farm (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.
$40,000.
3–Our Country, 120, c, 2, Constitution–Light and Variable, by
Tiznow. ($190,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $70,000 2yo '19
EASMAY). O-R. A. Hill Stable & Gatsas Stables; B-WinStar Farm,
LLC (KY); T-George Weaver. $24,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 2.50, 10.10, 3.80.
Also Ran: Famished, No Word, Maxwell Esquire, No Lime, The Gray Blur, Tuggle. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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