Susie Raisher / NYRA Photo

Amundson wires field to capture first stakes victory in Hollie Hughes

by Brian Bohl

Barry K. Schwartz’s Amundson surged to the front and was unrelenting to the finish, leading an eight-horse field gate-to-wire for his first career  stakes score in Monday’s $100,000 Hollie Hughes for New York-bred 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Amundson, who won three of his first six starts before finishing sixth last out in his stakes debut at Laurel Park on November 30, broke sharp and surged to the front under jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr., going the opening quarter-mile in 22.20 seconds and the half in 45.44 on the fast main track in the Presidents Day feature.

The Horacio DePaz trainee maintained the advantage out of the turn and repelled potential challenges from Morning Breez and Binkster near the top of the stretch. Off at 15-1, Amundson completed six furlongs in 1:10.87, outkicking the charging 2-1 favorite My Boy Tate by two lengths in his successful 4-year-old bow.

“He was brave up front. It worked out,” Vargas, Jr. said. “I was going a little fast, but nobody was putting any pressure on me and I took advantage of it. He relaxed really well and really got back to me when it was time to go. Every time I asked him, he gave me something."

Amundson returned $33.60 on a $2 win wager. The son of Curlin, bred by Stonewall Farm, improved his career earnings to $165,058, with his career ledger at 4-0-1 in eight starts.

“He still has his conditions open. There were just veteran horses he was running against today,” DePaz said. “Jason [Servis’] horse [Eye Luv Lulu] had 55 starts and you’ve got to respect these seasoned horses. He’s talented and today he showed that he’s capable of competing with them. Hopefully, he continues to improve off that.

“I thought he was going to labor there at the end and they were going to catch him,” he added. “He hadn’t run in a few months, so I was just a little concerned fitness wise. It looked like everybody was struggling behind him down the stretch. I was just hoping that the wire was going to get there in time.”

DePaz registered his first stakes win since Ginger N Rye won the Smart N Fancy on August 27, 2017 at Saratoga Race Course. Amundson could continue to try and notch more for his conditioner as he continues to target state-bred stakes.

“He’s New York-bred so obviously we’ll keep him against New York-bred company since he’s here already,” DePaz said. “I think he can run open company as well, we just have to find the right spot. We’ll see how he comes out of it, too.”

“His last two races he broke a little bit slow and it gave him a lot to do,” Franco said. “He gave me all he had today. The winner was just really good and never stopped.”

Binkster, Cerretalto, Eye Luv Lulu, Arthur’s Hope and P J Advantage completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Thursday with an eight-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.