Susie Raisher Photo

Fire Key unlocks potential in repeat Floral Park victory

by Brian Bohl

Backwards Stable's Fire Key ran down pacesetter Goldwood in the stretch and held on for a victory by a neck in a blanket finish to repeat as the winner in $100,000 Floral Park for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on Saturday at Belmont Park.

The New York-bred Fire Key, coming off a trio of runner-up efforts in her previous four starts, stayed off Goldwood's early fractions, where she led the six-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.50 seconds and the half in 45.29 on the firm Widener turf course.

Out of the turn, jockey Julian Pimentel urged the veteran Fire Key into contention and she responded by overtaking Goldwood from the outside and sustained momentum to the wire, completing six furlongs in 1:08.29 with the top-four finishers separated by a half length.

Fire Key, a slight 2-1 favorite, posted her first victory since the License Fee on April 28 at Belmont. The 6-year-old Friesan Fire mare returned $6.20 on a $2 win wager, with the James Ryerson trainee improving her career bankroll to $733,160.

"We just had a perfect trip," Pimentel said. "A couple speed horses went ahead and I just sat behind them. When it was time, I moved and she had plenty of horse to get home. Going into the turn, I was pretty confident and I knew I had enough horse to get there."

Added Ryerson: "The three-quarters [of a mile] really seems to help her. She hasn't won going five and a half [furlongs] in a while. You have to ride her a little bit to get the position you want to get, and going three quarters, she's able to get that without any difficulty and she has more left to finish. Unlike seven-eighths, which is a little far, she's able to hold off horses going three quarters. It just hits her in the head."

After running second to Goldwood by a half-length in the 5 ½-furlong Sensible Lady Turf on September 21 at Laurel Park, Fire Key reversed the fortunes against her rival stretching out slightly to six furlongs while improving to 5-3-0 in 10 career starts at Belmont.

"I think the wideness of the turns [at Belmont] helps," Ryerson said. "She's a big filly and at Laurel, she's on the outside, running hard but not going anywhere. The one good thing about Laurel is the different wire which gives her more time to try and get to [Goldwood]. She's able to get better positions through the turn here. Every aspect seems like it's better when she's here. At Aqueduct, it may be different."

Colts Neck Stable's Goldwood, trained by Jorge Duarte, Jr., saw her five-race winning streak snapped but edged Fear No Evil by a head for second. The 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has finished on the board in seven consecutive races.

"She fought all the way to the wire. It was a big race for her," said Goldwood jockey Jose Ferrer. "She's so amazing. I think three-quarters [of a mile] might be too far for her, but she ran hard to get beat by just a neck."

Completing the order of finish was Dynatail, Lady Mamba and Mominou. Misericordia and I'llhandalthecash were scratched.