Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Peter Searles, and Patty Searles' New York-bred Ramblin' Wreck rallied from last-of-eight to claim a one-length victory in the June 18 NYSSS Spectacular Bid, a seven-furlong Widener turf sprint for eligible New York-sired sophomores, at Belmont Park.
Ramblin' Wreck followed in the footsteps of his half brother, Dakota Gold, to give trainer Danny Gargan and co-owner Reeves Thoroughbred Racing back-to-back wins in this event after Dakota Gold notched a three-quarter-length win in last year's edition.
"I love Dakota and he's a great horse, but this gelding is probably as talented—maybe more," Gargan said. "Dakota plays around a little bit in his races and this guy really focuses a lot. I'm lucky to have him and that Dean (Reeves) has entrusted me to train both of them. They're both nice horses."
The first-time gelding was away slowly from post 5 and trailed the field as Ten Cent Town and Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez claimed the lead, racing just ahead of Itsallcomintogetha and maiden Vince the Prince through an opening quarter-mile in :22.91 over the firm footing.
Ramblin' Wreck continued to trail in last down the backstretch as Itsallcomintogetha ranged up on the outside to challenge Ten Cent Town while Vacation Dance attempted to advance between horses from fourth but was shuffled back with no room to split the pacesetters. Meanwhile, a loaded Twenty Six Black swung to the outside under Manny Franco and came into contention as the field rounded the turn through a half-mile in :46.39.
A patient Ortiz, Jr. nudged Ramblin' Wreck for more at the top of the lane and made steady progress towards Twenty Six Black, who overtook the lead from a tiring Ten Cent Town and a stubborn Itsallcomintogetha to his inside. Twenty Six Black stuck his neck in front at the sixteenth pole, but Ramblin' Wreck stormed home down the center of the course with large strides late to collar his foe just before the wire and complete the course in a final time of 1:21.21.
He returned $9.50 for a $2 win ticket and was awarded $82,500 in victory, now sporting a 2-1-0 record from six starts.
"He's a two-turn horse and we knew we'd be sitting back and make a big run," Gargan said. "We were just hoping we could catch them and it was pretty impressive how he run them down. They were still running at the end and they ran fast. I was very impressed with his race today. The turn of foot late was amazing. That's a nice horse he run down and he went by him pretty handily."
Redesdale garnered his first stakes winner when the gelding crossed the wire first. With four crops on the ground, the son of Speightstown has had progeny knocking on the stakes-winning door all year. Redesdale currently stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds for an advertised fee of $2,500.
