Mr. Buff Breezes in $100,000 Jazil

SOUTH OZONE PARK, NY –  Mr. Buff made easy work of the six-horse field in Saturday’s $100,000 Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct, wiring the field in the process. This was the fourth consecutive victory for Mr. Buff and second consecutive stakes win coming off of his win last time out in the $100k Alex M. Robb Stakes at Aqueduct.

Mr. Buff shot straight to the front to claim the early lead as they headed into the first turn of the 1 1/8 mile race at Aqueduct. Thebigfundamental was second best and settled just behind Mr. Buff on the outside and was followed closely by the 1-2 post-time favorite Sunny Ridge. As they came around the backstretch, Mr. Buff settled and set a comfortable pace with fractions of :25.05, :49.90, and 1:13.25. The field bunched together quickly as they came into the second turn but jockey Junior Alvarado opened up Mr. Buff who responded well by exploding around the turn and into the stretch. As they hit the top of the stretch, it was clear that Mr. Buff would face no pressure as he cruised to an easy 5 1/4 length win. Sunny Ridge finished second and Thebigfundamental finished ahead of Hero’s Welcome in a photo for show.

“That’s his running style, to get to the lead. Thankfully, we got there without much trouble and he wasn’t pressured,” said jockey Junior Alvarado. “I just had to put him on the lead, and he knows what to do from there. He took me all the way around. I was just a passenger today. When I asked him for a run in the stretch, he was there for me and he gave me a great kick today. I was just a passenger to be honest.”

This was the first stakes victory against open company for the five-year-old gelding Mr. Buff who is trained by John Kimmel. Mr. Buff was is bred and owned by Chester & Mary Broman.

Mr. Buff returned $9.90 to win, $3.20 to place, and $2.60 to show. Sunny Ridge brought back $2.2o to place and $2.10 to show, while Thebigfundamental paid $2.90 to show.

Scratch: Backsideofthemoon