Poster swooped past the field around the final turn, took charge in the stretch under Flavien Prat, and held off a strong rally by Aviator Gui to win the $250,000 Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct on Saturday.
While Godolphin-owned Poster stamped himself an early contender for the Kentucky Derby (G1) in five months, it was a historic day for Prat.
Putting the finishing touches on the best year of his career, Prat won a record-setting 80th stakes race and equaled Jerry Bailey’s seasonal mark of 55 graded stakes wins.
“I’m very thankful. There’s a lot of people behind me who supported me all year long, and Godolphin is a big part of it,’’ Prat said. “It’s good. It’s off my back and it was something that was in the back of my mind for sure. You never know if that opportunity is going to come again, so it was something that I was definitely trying to achieve.”
It was a masterful ride by Prat as Poster was making his first start on dirt after winning his first two races on turf. Trainer Eoin Harty said Prat told him he may have moved to the lead early, but “he saw the second horse in some trouble and decided to exploit the moment. He said he felt he moved a bit too soon, but if he didn’t make the move then, it might be a little too late. That is why you employ guys like Prat.”
Sent off at 4-1, Poster returned $11.60 on a $2 win bet and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.37. A son of Munnings, Poster earned 10 Derby qualifying points for the win. Aviator Gui, trained by Chad Brown, earned five points, with the next three finishers, Tux, Studlydoright, and 9-10 favorite Keewaydin, getting 3-2-1 points, respectively.
Big Wins at Aqueduct: Poster, Muhimma, and Locked Steal the Show
Tux took the early lead with Keewaydin just off his flank as the first quarter went in 23.95 and the half in 48.59. Keewaydin put his head in front for a bit, but Poster was rolling about four wide and quickly took command.
“When I turned for home, I figured it was going to be a long way by myself,’’ Prat said. “He got to the eighth pole and started looking around and felt like the job was done. He regrouped nicely when that horse came.”
Once again, trainer Chad Brown was a close second in the Remsen with Aviator Gui (he also trains Keewaydin). A year ago, Dornoch narrowly beat Sierra Leone in the race.
“I thought he [Aviator Gui] had the momentum to go by, but he needed just a little more ground,’’ Brown said. “He ran a really good race. He had been training in the morning like he was going to make a big forward move on the dirt and I’m happy to see that.”
In the $250,000 Demoiselle (G2), a Kentucky Oaks (G1) points qualifier, 2-5 favorite Muhimma defeated Ballerina d’Oro by one length.
And, in the featured $500,000 Cigar Mile (G2), 3-year-old Locked rallied under John Velazquez and topped Mullikin by 1½ lengths.