Joe Labozzetta Photo

Dawn the Destroyer sees daylight on the outside to win Interborough

by Brian Bohl

Stonestreet Stables' Dawn the Destroyer handled the return to stakes company with aplomb, running down Sower in deep stretch and surging to the wire to win the rescheduled $100,000 Interborough for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up on Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Originally slated for Monday's card that was canceled due to dangerously low windchill values, the 98th running of the Interborough saw 7-5 favorite Dawn the Destroyer saved ground behind the front runners as Yorkiepoo Princess led the eight-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.16 seconds and the half in 46.98 on the main track labeled good.

Out of the turn, jockey Junior Alvarado angled Dawn the Destroyer out wide before overtaking four challengers to gain the lead past the eighth pole, besting Sower by 1 ¾ lengths in completing seven furlongs in a final time of 1:25.74 to win her first career stakes.

"In the backside, she did not give me any feeling that I was going anywhere," Alvarado said. "I was thinking she didn't want to be too much on the inside, so I moved her to the outside.

"When I moved her outside, the race was over," he added. "When I moved her outside, she completely changed and picked up the bridle again and took off very nicely at the end."

After four consecutive starts against allowance company following a 10th place finish in the Safely Kept in November 2017 at Laurel, the 5-year-old Speightstown mare successfully stepped up in class, returning $4.80 on a $2 win wager. The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee improved her career bankroll to $231,405.

McLaughlin has won the Interborough two of the last three years, with Takress capturing the 2017 edition.

"With the little bit of time off since she's been back, she's really been training well. I expected her to run well today and I'm just glad she did," said Joe Lee, assistant to McLaughlin. "We know she likes to run outside and make her move late. I kind of mentioned that to Junior a little bit, but I didn't want to say too much. Once he got her outside, she's a different horse and she just finished strong."

Sower, a Silver member of the NYRA Starter Loyalty Program, finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Honor Way for second. Your Love, Yorkiepoo Princess, Miss Mimosa, Short Kakes and Silent Sonet completed the order of finish.

"She broke good and was right there. She ran her race and she tried hard the whole way, but the favorite beat us," said Sower jockey Jose Lezcano.

Live racing will return Saturday at Aqueduct with a 10-race card highlighted by the $100,000 Jazil for 4-year-olds and up. A single-day Pick 6 Carryover of $11,440 will commence in Race 5. First post time is 12:25 p.m.