Ezmosh Dominates in G3 Arlington Classic

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL –  Ezmosh was impressive in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Arlington Classic Stakes at Arlington Park as he won the race in runaway fashion.

For the second straight year a Brad Cox trainee invaded Arlington Park, and took home the Arlington Classic Stakes. This year it was Ezmosh who scored in dominating fashion by two and a half lengths as the race never really was in doubt when turning for home. He was sent off as the 3-2 post time favorite, and was ridden to victory on Saturday by local rider Jose Valdivia Jr.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity Brad Cox gave me to ride a graded race,” said Valdivia after the race. “He just left it up to me, just said [doesn’t matter] wherever he is as long as he’s comfortable. We spoke about it with Ricky [Giannini, assistant trainer] and whether he was on the lead, second, third – as long as he was comfortable he shut it off, and when I called on him he was there for me.”

After a sharp beginning Valdivia found a spot behind the early pace, and Ezmosh rated kindly behind the speed. At the top of the stretch he put away pace setter Cuestion de Tiempo while also quickly opening up on the other horses in the field. A late run by Pont Du Gard wouldn’t be enough as he could do no better than second place. The final time for the race was 1:45.52 over a yielding grass course.

Ezmosh was bred in Oklahoma by Scott and Lanae Pierce. The colt won for the third time in his nine career starts, earning $58,200 to bring his total career winnings to $154,480.

Ezmosh returned $3.00 to win, $2.60 to place, and $2.20 to show. Pont Du Gard brought back $5.40 to place and $3.80 to show, while Cuestion de Tiempo paid $6.40 to show.