Growth Equity nets first graded score in G3 Peter Pan

Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables saw Growth Equity ace his first effort against winners in style with a two-length score in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, a nine-furlong route for sophomores, at Belmont at the Big A.

The Peter Pan is the traditional New York prep for the 10-furlong Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets slated for Saturday, June 6 at Saratoga Race Course. The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will waive entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes for the first three finishers of the Peter Pan. Multiple horses have gone on to capture the Belmont Stakes following a Peter Pan coup, including Arcangelo [2023], Tonalist [2014], A.P. Indy [1992], Danzig Connection [1985] and Coastal [1979].

Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the Nyquist bay finished a one-length second sprinting in his first two outings and broke through by 4 1/4 lengths last out when stretched out to a one-turn mile in a March 20 maiden tilt here. Saturday’s win provided Brown with back-to-back Peter Pan victories after saddling last year’s winner Hill Road, and his fourth overall triumph in this event following previous scores with Timeline [2017] and Country Grammer [2020].

“I was cautiously optimistic he would handle a mile and an eighth,” Brown said. “Looking at him, he’s not a very big horse – he didn’t grow a whole lot since I bought him, but he always moves really well, especially in his gallop outs and his works. Overall, he’s a very athletic horse and very well made. I was hopeful with his athleticism and with his sire on top that can get route horses that he would be able to do it and he handled the mile and an eighth well.”

Flavien Prat climbed aboard Growth Equity for the first time in the afternoon and guided him from post 3-of-5 to settle in fourth as the Manny Franco-piloted Talk to Me Jimmy asserted himself over Azam into the first turn and led through the opening quarter-mile in 23.80 seconds over the good and harrowed footing.

"It felt like they were running into the first turn, and then once everyone had position, the pace slowed down a bit, but I was pleased where I was, and I think everybody else was, too,” said Prat, who landed his third Peter Pan win after piloting Hill Road last year and We the People in 2022.

Gulfy was coaxed up to sit off Talk to Me Jimmy’s flank heading into the backstretch, as Growth Equity tracked in the three-path in tandem with Azam through the half-mile in 48.35. Gulfy was asked by Kendrick Carmouche to turn up the pressure entering the turn, and Prat followed his run to loom large with three horses stacked across the track as three-quarters elapsed in 1:12.70.

"I thought there would be a couple horses in front of me,” Prat explained. “Going a mile and an eighth for the first time, I wanted to save ground a bit. I was happy where I was going down the backside, and I was able to get him in the clear. I felt like I was traveling well.”

A stubborn Talk to Me Jimmy battled on gamely along the inside heading into the stretch to keep a stalling Gulfy at bay, but Growth Equity gained ground with every stride and took the lead near the eighth pole, edging clear to win under a hand ride in a final time of 1:50.25.

Talk to Me Jimmy was 3 1/4 lengths better than Trendsetter, who landed a neck ahead of Gulfy with Azam rounding out the order of finish. Bull by the Horns was scratched and will reportedly be rerouted to the Grade 1 Preakness next Saturday for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Brown said he saw further improvement today from Growth Equity, who has upped his Beyer Speed Figures in every start and entered with a field-best 89 for his last-out maiden score.

“He got a nice education today by rating and losing plenty of ground on the final turn where he needed to be to go around those two horses,” Brown said. “He went a bit further than a mile and an eighth today and he did it well. He looked a winner every step of the way. All that was a real positive for him today and he probably ran a lifetime figure again, so this will be a fourth race with a new improvement. A horse that has a pattern like that the first four starts, that keeps getting faster on numbers – you have to like that.”

Growth Equity would need to stretch out even further in the 10-furlong Belmont Stakes, a race Brown said he is unsure will be in the cards for the talented colt.

“I’ll talk to Seth. Talking to Flavien, he wasn’t against more ground. We need to unpack it a bit later on,” Brown said. “It’s tough to say - he handled the mile and an eighth well. That other horse seemed like he was hanging in there with him. They were both running away from the field. He didn’t scream to me like he wanted more ground after this, so I’m not sure I’m in a hurry to get him out to a mile and a quarter in the Belmont, but he handled this well and there’s a lot of mile and an eighth races that are just fine to run in going forward. Maybe he does want more ground, we’ll see.”

Rudy Rodriguez, trainer of the New York-bred Talk to Me Jimmy, said the Listed Withers-winner performed bravely on the front end.

“He ran a good race. We were where we wanted to be on the lead, nice, comfortable, nobody pressing us,” Rodriguez said. “I was hoping Kendrick would stay a little bit back, he kind of put a little pressure before the five-eighths pole, kind of made a move a little premature. But this is a stakes race, you can't take anything away from the winner, he ran a good race. We fought, but being on the lead is tough."

Rodriguez added that Talk to Me Jimmy will be under consideration for the Belmont Stakes, as well as the New York Derby on July 13 at Finger Lakes Racetrack.

Bred in Kentucky by Stone Farm, Growth Equity was a $425,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase and is out of the Grade 3-placed Wildcat Heir mare My Dear Venezuela – a half-sister to Grade 2-placed multiple stakes-winner Selva. He banked $110,000 in victory while returning $4.04 on a $2 win ticket as the post-time even-money favorite.  

Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
 
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