Former claimer notches his first Grade 1 win as favored Affirmed Success is trapped on rail

The advantageous pairing of Shaun Bridgmohan and Brutally Frank began in January, when the jockey piloted the six-year-old gelding to game second-place finishes in a pair of inner-track allowance races at Aqueduct.

Carter H. (G1)
Aqueduct, May 7, $200,000, 7 furlongs, fast, 1:21.66
1-BRUTALLY FRANK, g. 6, Groovy-Rare Touch, by Rare Performer.
2-Western Expression, c. 4, Gone West-Tricky Game, by Majestic Light.
3-Affirmed Success, g. 6, Affirmed-Towering Success, by Irish Tower.

In the ensuing weeks, the former claimer began a steady climb upward, ticking off a neck victory in a six-furlong handicap, switching to the main track to take the Toboggan Handicap by three-quarters of a length, and then knocking off the fleet Kelly Kip by a head in the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) on April 15.

The next logical step for the son of Groovy-Rare Touch, by Rare Performer, appeared to be the $200,000 Carter Handicap (G1), a one-turn, seven-furlong race that is the first of 34 Grade 1 stakes to be run in New York this year. The Carter's principal drawback was the presence of the multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Affirmed Success, a specialist at the distance, in a short field.

Affirmed Success, in fact, had made his six-year-old debut in stellar fashion with a half-length victory in the General George Handicap (G2) at Laurel Park and was returning to the site of his victory in the 1999 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1). Accordingly, the closing-day crowd of 6,666 made Affirmed Success the 0.35-to-1 favorite in the field of seven.

But, as trainer Richard Schosberg later noted, sometimes you can get into more trouble in a short field than in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Boxed in on the rail behind pacesetter Unreal Madness with no way to get out, Affirmed Success, who carried high weight of 122 pounds, ran gamely but could manage only a third-place finish as Brutally Frank (116) outgamed Western Expression (113) in a stretch-long battle to the wire to win by a head. "He's probably more disappointed than we are," Schosberg said of Affirmed Success. "He was boxed in all the way, and the rail was not the place to be. He had no chance to get out. He made a run up the rail, but that really wasn't the place to be."

"The horses on the outside were too fast early on, and I couldn't get off the rail," said Jorge Chavez, who rode the beaten favorite. "He ran a real game race, but he didn't have enough room to get through."

Bridgmohan, on the other hand, had enjoyed a perfect outside trip aboard Brutally Frank, stalking Unreal Madness through fractions of 22.40 and 45.09 for the first half-mile and then coming on between horses to hit the wire in 1:21.66 for the gelding's first Grade 1 win.

"He was right there the whole way around," said Bridgmohan, who also notched his first Grade 1 success. "We sat off the lead. I was able to get him over to where he wanted to be; he fought hard and put in everything he had. He wasn't much different today than in his last few races. He's just an extra game horse, and this being my first Grade 1 makes it extra special." It was also the first Grade 1 victory for trainer Mitchell Friedman.

Owned by Sunny Meadow Farm, Brutally Frank went off as the 4.20-to-1 second betting choice and earned $120,000, raising his career earnings to $554,284. The Carter extended his record to 11 victories in 53 starts. Western Expression finished a half-length ahead of the favorite, and following Affirmed Success under the wire were Unreal Madness, Chasin' Wimmin, Hattab (Ire), and Kashatreya.

Perfect Sting's Beaugay

Accompanying the Carter on the closing-day card was the $109,700 Beaugay Handicap (G3) for fillies and mares on the turf, a race featuring Stronach Stable's multiple Grade 1 winner Perfect Sting.

Beaugay H. (G3)
Aqueduct, May 7, $109,700, 11/16 miles, turf, firm, 1:42.30
1-PERFECT STING, f. 4, Red Ransom-Valid Victress, by Valid Appeal.
2-License Fee, m. 5, Black Tie Affair (Ire)-Star Deputy, by Deputy Minister.
3-Fictitious (GB), f. 4, Machiavellian-Trying for Gold, by Northern Baby.

Making her four-year-old debut after running well in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1), Perfect Sting signaled that she would be ready for another big year with a solid half-length victory over License Fee. Perfect Sting, sent off at even money, ran the Beaugay's 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.30 on firm turf.

"She wasn't ready to give a peak performance because I didn't have her cranked all the way," said winning trainer Joe Orseno, who said her next start would be in the Sheepshead Bay Handicap (G2) on June 3. "She can get a little better with each race."

A daughter of Red Ransom-Valid Victress, by Valid Appeal, Perfect Sting earned $65,820 and extended her record to nine victories in 14 starts. Her career earnings total $780,862.

Big E E's Withers

It was not a precise replay of the previous week, but it was a familiar sight: trainer Jimmy Jerkens standing in the winner's circle at Aqueduct after having pulled off a minor upset.

Withers S. (G3)
Aqueduct, May 6, $150,000, 1 mile, fast, 1:35.69
1-BIG E E, c. 3, Jolie's Halo-Proud Clarioness, by Tri Jet.
2-Precise End, c. 3, End Sweep-Precisely, by Summing.
3-Port Herman, c. 3, Rahy-Dixie Luck, by Dixieland Band.

This time, it was the Jerkens-trained Big E E who in his first stakes start caught favored Precise End in the final 100 yards of the $150,000 Withers Stakes (G3). The Withers on May 6 was the three-year-old's third victory in five starts this year, all at Aqueduct.

Since coming to Jerkens's barn this year after four starts as a two-year-old, the son of Jolie's Halo out of Proud Claironess, by Tri Jet, won his maiden victory on January 29 at 1 1/16 miles, came back to miss by a neck on a muddy track in an allowance race at the same distance, finished second to Cat's At Home in a 1 1/8-mile allowance on March 22, and then ran off to a six-length victory at a mile on April 8.

The Withers, also at a mile, seemed to be a good spot for his stakes debut, even with the presence of Precise End, a front-running, 5 1/4-length winner of the Bay Shore Stakes (G3) on April 15, Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) day, in his first start since November.

Jockey Patrick Husbands had no choice but to employ the same strategy that had carried Precise End across the finish line first in four of his eight previous starts, but the colt's sizzling fractions in the Withers may have been his undoing. Rocketing to the lead, 2.90-to-1 favorite Precise End zipped through the first quarter-mile in :21:92 before completing a half-mile in :43.84 and six furlongs in 1:08.13 while prompted by Port Herman.

Meanwhile, jockey Heberto Castillo Jr. settled Big E E about 5 1/2 lengths back after being bumped at the start. On the turn, Castillo sent the colt three wide after the leaders, but it was not until Precise End started to tire that Big E E was able to run by with 100 yards to go and pull away to a 1 1/2-length victory in 1:35.69, with Port Herman another 1 3/4 lengths back in third. After the race, Precise End was vanned off with an injury to his right foreleg. Completing the order of finish were Cat's At Home, Bulling, Turnofthecentury, Bare Outline, and Be Mine Tonight.

Big E E, who went off as the 3.65-to-1 third betting choice, earned $90,000 for L. Hollow Farms. "I had a pretty good feeling speed was going to come back," said Jerkens, who won the Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap (G3) with Lager a week earlier. "He was getting tired at the end, too, from chasing the speed. We'll take a look next at the Peter Pan Stakes ([G2] on May 27) for his next start."

Spindrift's Fort Marcy

When Spindrift (Ire) came to Kiaran McLaughlin's barn from Dubai this spring, the trainer was unsure whether the five-year-old horse by Mukaddamah out of Win for Me, by Bonne Noel, was better on the dirt or grass.

Fort Marcy H. (G3)
Aqueduct, May 6, $112,800, 11/16 miles, turf, firm, 1:40.88
1-SPINDRIFT (IRE), h. 5, Mukaddamah-=Win for Me (Ire), by =Bonne Noel (GB).
2-Middlesex Drive, h. 5, Pine Bluff-York Woods, by Mining.
3-Wised Up, h. 5, Dixieland Band-Wising Up, by Smarten.

That question was answered in the $112,800 Fort Marcy Handicap (G3) on turf when Spindrift came from next to last to run down multiple graded stakes winner Middlesex Drive for a 1 1/2-length victory in course-record time. After initially refusing to load into the gate and unloading rider Jean-Luc Samyn in the process, Spindrift relaxed well off the pace set by Middlesex Drive before uncorking a powerful stretch run that carried him to the wire in 1:40.88.

"In Dubai, they loaded him first and blindfolded him, but he was never that bad at the gate before," McLaughlin said of Rashid al Maktoum's Spindrift, who went off as the 23.40-to-1 longshot in the field of nine and won for the first time in five starts this year, earning $67,680. "I thought 23-to-1 was a little much, but it's hard when they come from Dubai to know exactly where they stand," McLaughlin said.

Middlesex Drive, making his first start since his poor showing in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) on November 6, finished a head in front of Wised Up, who was followed under the wire by Haami, Make No Mistake (Ire), Swamp, Barbola, 2.15-to-1 favorite Beckon the King, and Ssssosa.

"The plan was to stalk the pace, and we had a good trip," said Javier Castellano, aboard Beckon the King. "As soon as I asked him to run he backed up. He was just empty."