Demarchelier Digs Deep for Pennine Ridge Score

ELMONT, NY – Peter Brant’s Demarchelier kept his perfect record intact with an impressive effort to dig deep and secure victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.

Breaking from post 3 under Javier Castellano at 5/1 odds, Demarchelier took back and watched as his Chad Brown stablemate Value Proposition took command from the rail. Clint Maroon kept close watch as Value Proposition posted opening fractions of :24.53, :49.27, and 1:12.98.

Still running in sixth along the inside as the field entered the far turn, Castellano asked Demarchelier to pick up the pace and soon tipped him out to run six-wide at the top of the stretch. Social Paranoia came out slightly and bumped Magnificent McCool, causing a chain reaction into Henley’s Joy and ultimately Demarchelier, but the game colt was relatively unphased and soon exploded past those foes.

Castellano fought hard to keep Demarchelier from lugging in late, a move that nearly cost him the race because Seismic Wave was rallying strongly down the middle of the track. Demarchelier dug deep and employed a strong kick to keep his challenger at bay before crossing the wire with a neck advantage in a final time of 1:48.20 for the 1 1/8-mile event over the good inner turf course.

“I didn’t expect it to be such a slow pace like that,” Castellano said. “The way I handicapped it, there were a couple of horses that could get a good pace and it would be good fractions. The way my horse did it was very impressive. He finished very well. He’s a young horse and still learning. You can see his first two races were a mile and 1/16. Today, he stretched out to a mile and 1/8 and he handled it so well. With a slow pace, he finished really well. He’s going in the right direction and has a good mind. He’s going to be good in the future.”

Though his strong finish was not enough to get the job done, Seismic Wave was a length clear of the 2/1 favorite Social Paranoia in third. Henley’s Joy nosed out a fading Clint Maroon for fourth, with the remaining runners far behind him. Magnificent McCool headed Value Proposition to complete the order of finish.

Swamp Rat was scratched in favor of competing in the $75,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes at Monmouth Park, where he finished fourth.

Demarchelier’s win was his third in as many career starts, having broken his maiden at Aqueduct on November 21 and returning to win a Keeneland allowance event on April 12. The 3-year-old son of Dubawi, purchased as a yearling for $592,486, has earned $188,520 so far in his young career and will be pointed to the Belmont Derby (G1) on July 6 for his next start.

“After he broke his maiden, we had mapped out a plan to get to the Belmont Derby, and fortunately, it looks like the plan is coming together,” Brown said. “He’s a really top-quality colt. Obviously well-bred and well-ridden each time. It’s exciting to have a horse headed to that big race.”

Demarchelier returned $12.40 to win, $6 to place, and $3 to show. Seismic Wave brought back $4.10 to place and $2.60 to show, while Social Paranoia paid $2.60 to show.