Friday, July 5, 2019
Win Win Win showed his affinity for the turf with a rousing come-from-behind score in the $100,000 Manila S. on Independence Day at Belmont Park.
Making his first start on the grass after a campaign that included several Triple Crown preps and starts in both the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness S. (G1), the Live Oak Plantation homebred was given a chance on the grass.
Unhurried out of the gate, Win Win Win was at the back of the eight-horse field early on. After checking off heels in the middle of the backstretch, Win Win Win found himself about eight lengths from the front. Checking again on the turn, jockey Julien Pimentel swung the 3-year-old five-wide into the stretch to find clear running. He kicked into high gear and wrested the lead from Fog of War in deep stretch to win by a half-length.
The final time for the mile was an excellent 1:31.56, less than a half-second off the track record and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
“This was an experiment [running on turf],” said winning trainer Michael Trombetta. “I really didn't know how it was going to end. I did work him on it. He works decent on the synthetic and he worked okay on the turf at Laurel. It looked like he got over the ground well. We didn't put any pressure on him, but he handled it well and we were happy with him. We wanted to see what it was all about and get him started, but we'll take him one race at a time.”
Win Win Win has now earned $422,300 and is 4-2-1 in nine starts.