OCEANPORT, NJ – Crawford Farms Racing’s Archidust doubled up with a late surge to win his second straight stakes in Sunday’s $75,000 Get Serious at Monmouth Park.
Archidust broke from post 3 as the 4/5 favorite under Hector Diaz, Jr., Archidust saved ground while keeping relatively close in fourth. Up front, the 2/1 second choice Satellite Storm set opening fractions of :22.69 and :45.45 while Completed Pass and Spikes Shirl gave closest watch.
Archidust tipped out near the top of the stretch and commenced a rally down the middle of the lane as Satellite Storm gave way along the inside. Ranging up to challenge Completed Pass and Spikes Shirl, Archidust poked his head in front in the shadow of the wire.
The Steve Asmussen trainee crossed victorious in a final time of 1:03.17 for the 5 1/2-furlong firm turf sprint.
“He’s a pretty easy horse to ride,” said Diaz, Jr. “He broke running. He has tactical speed to be right there early and he has a gear at the end. When you ask him, he responds. All you need to do is keep him out of trouble and have a nice trip and he is going to do the rest. I was able to save a little ground early because I knew as soon as I switched him to the outside, he was going to go. The other two horses hung in there gamely; my horse just ran them down. He’s always good. He always tries.”
Spikes Shirl headed Completed Pass for second as the top trio finished well ahead of the rest of the pack. Share the Ride was a neck and a nose in front of Dubini and Satellite Storm, respectively, in a tight late battle for fourth.
Behind them came Love You Much, Snowday, and Wentz to complete the order of finish.
Day by Day (Main Track Only), Speightsford (Also-Eligible), and Singanothersong (Trainer) were scratched.
Archidust’s win followed his success in last month’s Wolf Hill Stakes and improved his overall record to 14-7-1-3, including 5-4-0-1 over the local courses. The 4-year-old Verrazano colt has now won 5 stakes in his career while accruing $353,400 in earnings.
Archidust returned $3.80 to win, $3.20 to place, and $2.20 to show. Spikes Shirl brought back $9 to place and $6 to show, while Completed Pass paid $4.80 to show.
