Scalene takes them all the way in $175K Bertram F. Bongard
Marc Keller’s New York-homebred Scalene made every pole a winning one in Friday’s $175,000 Bertram F. Bongard, a 6 1/2-furlong Widener turf sprint for state-bred juveniles, at Belmont Park.
Trained by Bobby Ribaudo and piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the Bolt d’Oro colt entered from a winning debut on August 21 at Saratoga Race Course where he was bumped at the break and traveled in fifth position before showing a good kick down the lane to win the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint by a half-length.
Ribaudo joked that he was glad he didn’t make time to give Castellano any pre-race instructions.
“We didn’t expect him to get banged leaving the gate like last time, but we didn’t expect him to lead either,” Ribaudo said. “You’ve got so much room from the gate to the inside rail when they set the gate up on the outside fence, so it looked like a European race when they came out of there with all that room and everybody came down to the rail.
“He had an easy first quarter – I’m not sure how fast this turf is, but that was pretty good. Then, he finished really good. All these races should be that easy,” Ribaudo added, with a laugh.
Calling Mr. Mo, the 4-5 post-time favorite, was away best of all but Scalene, off a step slow, asserted to take the lead through an opening quarter-mile in 22.73 seconds over the firm footing with the Dylan Davis-piloted Road Show, who ducked in from the inside post, saving ground in third position. Scalene was in hand through the turn as Calling Mr. Mo ratcheted up the pressure to his outside with Road Show biding his time to the inside of Mendel as the half-mile elapsed in 45.91.
Scalene continued to find more at the top of the lane and put away Calling Mr. Mo as Road Show found his best stride late. But there was no getting to Scalene, who powered through the wire a comfortable 3 1/4-length winner over the onrushing Road Show in a final time of 1:15.99.
“I tried to take him back, but how can I do that,” asked Castellano. “He broke out of the gate, the one horse [Road Show] ducked in, he went inside. We have plenty of room, wide open, he saw the daylight, he took off. He took off, took off in a good way. Sat beautiful. That first quarter, I think that was the key to win the race. His ears were back, focused. I liked the way he did it and he waited for a horse and when I asked a little bit, it’s amazing he took off.”
It was a neck back to Calling Mr. Mo in third with Soldier’s Glory, Cuylle, Mendel and Saratoga Tea rounding out the order of finish.
Davis said the dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse-trained Road Show performed admirably in his turf debut following a second-out graduation in a state-bred maiden sprint on August 15 at the Spa.
“Broke well. A little green, jumping on the backside a little bit on some tracks, but ran good for second,” Davis said. “Still some more improvement there. Probably wants a little more ground as well.
“Javier got what he wanted,” Davis said, regarding the race tempo. “But it was the first time for us being on the grass, gave him a little bit of a chance to feel it out and I thought he ran well.”
Scalene is out of the winning Arch mare Equilateral, making him a half-brother to Rhombique, who finished second in the 1 3/8-mile Grade 3 Long Island in 2023 for these connections.
Ribaudo indicated Scalene is likely to make his next start in the one-mile $175,000 Notebook versus fellow state-bred juveniles on November 1 here. Scalene banked $96,250 in victory while improving his record to 2-for-2. He returned $7.48 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Belmont Park with an 11-race card headlined by the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne [Race 8], which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in October at Keeneland, and is one of six graded events on the stacked program. Also featured are three additional “Win and You’re In” events in the Grade 2, $250,000 Miss Grillo [Juvenile Fillies Turf] in Race 7, the Grade 2, $250,000 Pilgrim [Juvenile Turf] in Race 11 and the Grade 3, $200,000 Futurity [Juvenile Turf Sprint] in Race 10 to go along with the Grade 1, $500,000 Frizette [Race 9], a Breeders’ Cup “Dirt Dozen” race that offers the top-three with entry credits to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Those events are supported by the Grade 3, $200,000 Matron in Race 6. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.
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