Wednesday afternoon, certain that he didn’t have an ideal scenario, jockey Eibar Coa let Sackatoga Stable’s Doc N Roll loose on the turn and then helped him hold off Gold Vendetta for a neck victory in the sixth running of the $150,000 Cab Calloway Division of the New York Stallion Series for eligible three-year-olds at a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf.
While Coa liked his position, he didn’t like the pace.
He let Doc N Roll loose on the turn, and he caught the leader at the quarter-pole. He spurted away from his pursuers, but had done a lot of running quickly and Gold Vendetta was coming hard under Rajiv Maragh after saving ground in mid race.
Doc N Roll had just enough left to hold on for the victory in 1:43.69. It was the third win in eight career starts for the Wheelaway colt.
“I really had a lot of confidence in him today,” said Coa, whose mount returned $7.30 to win. “I was hoping that the race would unfold the way I wanted to, but it kind of didn’t. I mean, they were going too slow for me early I the race, and I was too close. Actually, by the five-eighths (pole), I couldn’t hold it any more. I had to just try and let him go. So that’s why I might have moved a little early – because of the pace. I was a little scared that he would get tired at the end, but he worked with me today. ”
If their patience was tested, it was also rewarded, as Doc N Roll was the second consecutive winner on the day for both Tagg and Coa. One race earlier, they won with Nehantic Key ($11.40).
“When I woke up this morning, I was worried because it was raining,” Tagg said. “I thought I would need to scratch both horses if the races came off the turf. Luckily, the rain didn’t last that long. The races stayed on the turf and everything worked out well.
“Eibar (Coa) did a great job with both horses. Things were really getting tough. I thought we were going to run of horses.”
The two victories gave Tagg three of the meeting, four behind co-leaders Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen through Wednesday.
Favored Cannonball was third, followed by Express to Thewest, Brookhaven’s Money, Key Victory and Phobia.
Main-track only horses Almighty Silver and Fortune Faded were scratched.
NEW YORK STALLION SERIES QUOTES
CAB CALLOWAY DIVISION
Winning trainer Barclay Tagg of Doc N Roll (No. 4; second straight win on the day from as many starts): “When I woke up this morning, I was worried because it was raining. I thought I would need to scratch both horses if the races came off the turf. Luckily, the rain didn’t last that long. The races stayed on the turf and everything worked out well.
“Eibar (Coa) did a great job with both horses. Things were really getting tough. I thought we were going to run of horses.”
Winning jockey Eibar Coa: “I really had a lot of confidence in him today. I was hoping that the race would unfold the way I wanted to, but it kind of didn’t. I mean, they were going too slow for me early I the race, and I was too close. Actually, by the five-eighths (pole), I couldn’t hold it any more. I had to just try and let him go. So that’s why I might have moved a little early – because of the pace. I was a little scared that he would get tired at the end, but he worked with me today. ”
NOTE: Tagg and Coa won Wednesday’s eighth race with Nehantic Kay ($11.40) and the ninth with Doc N Roll ($7.30).