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​Belouni finds room in mid-stretch to take $100K Woodhaven

by Mary Eddy

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Michael Kisber and William Rucker’s Belouni overcame a troubled trip to score his first stakes victory for four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner Chad Brown in Saturday’s $100,000 Woodhaven, a one-mile inner turf test for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Expertly piloted by Jose Ortiz, Belouni entered from a seventh-place finish in the March 4 Colonel Liam at Gulfstream Park where he went eight-wide in the final turn and ran evenly down the lane. The son of Fast Company showed a new dimension in the Woodhaven, maneuvering around his foes and splitting rivals to claim a 1 1/2-length victory in his second North American start. 

Belouni emerged well from post 4 in the field of six and was held in fourth while the Dylan Davis-piloted Inflation Nation broke sharpest of all, but allowed longshot High Strike to establish command into the first turn. Belouni raced in tandem with Winters Lion and stablemate Neural Network through the opening turn before inching closer and claiming third position just behind Inflation Nation through an opening quarter-mile in 24.58 seconds and a half-mile in 49.93 over the firm footing. 

High Strike maintained his lead down the backstretch and into the final turn before Inflation Nation was asked for more to his outside, putting a head in front mid-turn as the advancing Belouni ran up on his heels and was forced to steady to the inside of Neural Network. High Strike gave way as the field straightened for the drive to the wire with Inflation Nation drifting out slightly, allowing a seam to open up for Belouni to make a clear run for the lead. 

Belouni took a narrow advantage from a stubborn Inflation Nation just past the eighth pole and drove home strongly to cross the finish line first in a final time of 1:37.69. Inflation Nation held onto place honors by a nose over the oncoming Neural Network, who raced wide throughout in his turf debut under Manny Franco. Regal Kingdom, Winters Lion and High Strike completed the order of finish. 

Jose Ortiz, who rode the colt for the first time, said Belouni was game throughout. 

“I had a lot of horse. When he felt Manny making his move, I was in my spot and he was in his spot and when he felt that horse coming to him, he jumped on the bridle,” said Ortiz. “I looked over and I had Dylan there and touched his heels a little. Thankfully, nothing bad happened and he recovered quickly. I found a good seam on the inside and he was very professional. He was a little keen on the first turn, but he relaxed nicely after that. He won nicely.”

Belouni, whose other two wins came at seven-furlongs and one mile around right-handed turns in France, has never raced beyond one mile, but Ortiz said the talented bay could handle a stretch-out in distance. 

“The pace was very slow today and he was able to settle OK,” said Ortiz. “On the backside, I was comfortable. I think he might [stretch out] but at the end of the day, it’s up to Chad.”

Bred in France by Le Thenney, Belouni was stakes-placed in his native France when second in the Criterium de Lyon at Lyon-Parilly in September for previous conditioner Christophe Escuder. He banked $55,000 for his Woodhaven victory, increasing his total purse earnings to $96,882 through a record of 6-3-2-0. He returned $4.30 for a $2 win ticket as the even-money post-time favorite. 

Inflation Nation, who made his first start off a more than five-month layoff, was last seen finishing third in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach in November at the Big A under Davis, who said the Christophe Clement trainee should benefit from the effort going forward. 

“The plan was to break him well. I could have went to the lead, but I opted to lay second off the three horse [High Strike] to give him the chance to relax and then see if he could kick on,” said Davis. “He got a little keen into the turn, but then he was able to sit down and relax. He got into a good rhythm and he finished strong. He handled the mile nicely. I just wanted him to settle down a bit and he settled for me. He ran great and I think he can improve off that.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card, featuring the $200,000 NYSSS Park Avenue in Race 8. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern. 

America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct spring meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

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