NEWS
Lawyer Ron rallies from off pace to win season debut
Posted: Sunday, February 11, 2007 6:37 PM
LAWYER RON
Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
By Mike Curry
Grade 2 winner Lawyer Ron returned from a layoff of more than three months with a 3 1/4-length victory as the 2-to-5 favorite in a one-mile allowance/optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park on Sunday.
The four-year-old Langfuhr colt won the 2006 Rebel Stakes (G3) and Arkansas Derby (G2) during a six-race winning streak leading up to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).
Lawyer Ron finished a nonthreatening 12th in the Derby and was subsequently underwent surgery to remove a bone chip from his right hind ankle.
Lawyer Ron was often headstrong as a three-year-old and intent on going to the lead. His chances in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) were severely compromised when he was rank early and fighting jockey Patrick Valenzuela. After racing in second through six furlongs Lawyer Ron faded in the stretch of the Classic and finished ninth.
In Sunday’s allowance race, jockey John Velazquez took a firm hold of Lawyer Ron and forced him to settle behind the leaders from the inside. Velazquez steadied Lawyer Ron behind opponents along the backstretch and again on the turn but got him into the clear from six wide entering the lane.
Lawyer Ron closed willingly to seize command inside the eighth pole and surged clear to cover one mile on a fast track in 1:35.17.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for owners Stonewall Farms Racing Division and the Estate of James T. Hines Jr., Lawyer Ron improved to nine wins from 19 starts and increased his earnings to $1,500,008.
Bred in Kentucky by Hines, Lawyer Ron is out of the placed Lord Avie mare Donation.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor
