2010 Gotham Stakes (G3) - Awesome Act

English import Awesome Act took a major step forward on the Triple Crown trail Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack, charging to an impressive victory over nine other 3-year-olds to take the Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham Stakes in his first start on dirt.




Ridden by reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Julien Leparoux, the son of 1998 Breeders Cup Classic winner Awesome Again stayed well off fractions of 22.85 and 46.60 set by Wow Wow Wow, moved up willingly four-wide on the turn and then powered to the front in midstretch for a 1¼-length win over Yawanna Twist.




He did everything perfect, said Leparoux of the colt, who despite having only run on turf and synthetic surfaces was sent off as the 5-2 favorite. He was beyond good on the dirt; it didnt matter to him at all. He just did everything on his own, he put me in the right spots, and then he just finished very nice.




Awesome Acts winning time for the 1 1/16th miles was 1:43.85 over a fast inner track as he made his first start since finishing a fast-closing fourth in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf last November at Santa Anita. Following that race, he returned to England to train, arriving in New York on Wednesday for his 2010 debut.




Its the first hurdle out of the way, so the dream lives on, said winning trainer Jeremy Noseda, who is based at Newmarket, England. Well be back for the [Grade 1, $750,000] Wood Memorial [April 3].

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• awesome
• act
• julien
• leparoux
• gotham
• stakes
• nyra
• horse
• racing
• aqueduct
• noseda

[ILuvTurfRacing01]

Turf. When he stayed in the US after the 09' Breeders Cup and turned in this performance in the Gotham in his first career start on conventional dirt, I really though this horse had found his ticket and was on his way. Even ran a creditable 3rd behind Eskendereya in the G1 Wood Memorial in his second start on dirt, too. I forgave him and a lot of other horses their horrible 2010 Ky. Derby runs because of the horrid track conditions that day. But since the Derby, he just hasn't shown much at all?

[ILuvTurfRacing01]

It really is a mystery to me as to why Awesome Act has turned out to be such a disappointment now? These days, he struggles to even be competitive in allowance races at Keenland and Churchill Downs. I followed him closely as a juvenile when he was still racing on turf and all-weather in the UK, and he ran some quality races on both surfaces against some quality horses. The likes of Al Zir, Ameer, Quadrille, Circumvent, and even against Pounced, Bridgetown, and Interactif in the 09 BC Juvenile>>>

[Pick6Fix]

youtube/triplecrowntrail

[BigBrown2332]

I don't think this horse is the deep closer everybody is saying. He didn't really settle 100% until the way up the backside, and he was not that far off the pace, and it was a hot one. Julian still had to hold him pretty hard to. Don't get me wrong, I think Awesome Act is a great horse, and I think he'll run great in the derby but, if you look a little closer, he might like to be up in 7th to 12th in the Kentucky Derby. Maybe closer, but Who knows?

[97Rebecca97]

He ran a good race here. He likes running in America better than England they shouldn't have run him in the Dewhurst in England last October he wasn't up to that standard but he'll run well in America.

[BigBrown2332]

Awesome Act ran really good in this race, but I'm gonna say that I think Yawanna Twist is a horse that is improving. He came from a 6 furlong sprint to a mile and 1/16th race. That's a big step up for a horse like that. I think he'll run better in the Wood. He might not beat the likes of Eskendereya, but he has a great chance of showing up. I do think Awesome act is a real contender for the Derby though. If Yawanna Twist finishes 1,2,3 that will be very well to some top Derby contenders.

[WhiteCamry]

Awesome Act is Kentucky-bred.