Chelsea Durand Photo

Catholic Boy finds atonement in switch to dirt to win G2 Remsen

by Brian Bohl

Robert LaPenta's Catholic Boy registered an impressive win in his dirt debut, gaining the lead at the top of the stretch and outkicking 2-1 favorite Avery Island to win the 104th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for 2-year-olds on Saturday, Cigar Mile Day, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf on November 3 at Del Mar, trainer Jonathan Thomas switched Catholic Boy to the dirt and stretched him out to 1 1/8 miles. The More Than Ready colt responded well, staying off the pacesetters as Bandito led the field of 10 through a quarter-mile in 23.98 seconds and the half in 48.97.

Out of the final turn, Catholic Boy surged from the outside and drew clear under jockey Manny Franco's drive, winning by 4 ¾ lengths, hitting the wire in 1:52.50 on a main track labeled fast.

"I just followed the instructions," said Franco, who notched his first career Remsen win. "The trainer told me to break out of there running and to try and get some position early on into the first turn. The horse put me in a good position and when I called on him to run he just went."

Catholic Boy won his first two starts, breaking his maiden on July 20 at Gulfstream Park and registering his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 3 With Anticipation on August 30 at Saratoga Race Course before his Breeders' Cup start. Thomas, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher, said he wanted to try Catholic Boy on the dirt, and the move resulted in the trainer's second career graded stakes win.

"Early on he was a turf horse only because there weren't many route races on the dirt," Thomas said. "It was kind of a default sort of thing and he actually breezed fine on the turf so now we have a lot of thinking to do. The key to him as that if he gets a route of ground. Obviously, this time of year our preference would be to have a dirt horse this time of year. I think we definitely have to consider his next start being a dirt race for sure and kind of see where he takes us."

Off at 4-1, Catholic Boy paid $10.20 on a $2 win wager. The Kentucky bred has won three of his first four starts and nearly doubled his career earnings to $314,000.

"We were really happy with how he exited the Breeders' Cup and to us he galloped out very well in that race and indicated that he wanted more ground," Thomas said. "The day after that race he was very lively and looked like he exited well so knowing that he would get the trip and that there was a direct flight here, we brought him here and were able to get two nice works into him on the dirt [at Belmont Park training track] and he did that well. We came over here quietly confident that he would show us a little something, but we never expected that."

Godolphin's Avery Island, who was coming off a win in the Grade 2 Nashua on November 5 at the Big A, rallied for second under jockey Joe Bravo. The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee was stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time and responded by finishing 1 3/4 lengths in front of Vouch for runner-up status in his first two-turn race.

"I think Joe felt like he [Avery Island] learned a lot today. Obviously, you want to win but sometimes you make a step forward just from learning," said Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin USA. "He was down on the inside, got dirt in his face, and he took it all well. Certainly, the horse that won has some credentials on his own.

"He's a big colt, he's still learning. But from the standpoint of 'did you take a step forward?' I think he probably did. It doesn't always come in a winning race, but he grew up some today. Those were all positive signs."

Vouch, Alkhaatam, Tap Rap Strike, Biblical, Millionaire Runner, Triple Dog Dare, V. I. P. Code and Bandito completed the order of finish.