OZONE PARK, NY – Sunrise Smarty gave West Point Partners plenty to be thankful for when he dashed to his first stakes victory in the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (G3) Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack. Inheriting the lead in the Thanksgiving day feature, our 4-year-old son of Smarty Jones turned back pressure up front through sizzling early fractions and held on to win the Grade 3 event by half a length. CHART
OZONE PARK, NY – Sunrise Smarty gave West Point Partners plenty to be thankful for when he dashed to his first stakes victory in the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap (G3) Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack. Inheriting the lead in the Thanksgiving day feature, our 4-year-old son of Smarty Jones turned back pressure up front through sizzling early fractions and held on to win the Grade 3 event by half a length. CHART
Ramon Dominguez was in the irons aboard Sunrise Smarty, one of five winners on the jockey’s 35th birthday. When the field scratched down to five participants and the duo wound up breaking from the rail, Dominguez was slightly concerned about the potential of a quick early pace – but knew using our colt’s natural speed would be his best chance at riding a winner.
Sunrise Smarty ran through an opening quarter mile in :21.51 and a half in :44.31, then found another gear at the eighth pole and turned back a late charge from Nathan’s H Q. He crossed the wire for a final six furlongs in 1:09.97.
“At the eighth pole, it looked like they were going to pass him, but he kept on fighting,” Dominguez said.
Sunrise Smarty, the second choice in the field of five, returned $6.90 for a $2 win bet and earned $60,000 for WPT, B C Stables, and Nick Cammarano. Overall, he is 4-3-1 from 12 lifetime starts with a bankroll of $221,961.
“He’s a real soldier; he shows up,” trainer Mike Hushion said. “The inside post didn’t give us any choice but to send him today. I was worried after that first quarter-mile, which was a bit salty, and again at the eighth pole, when it looked like they had him in their sights and were going to run him down. But he’s a tough horse. He’ll race here over the winter, but I don’t have anything in particular picked out.”
