Coglianese /NYRA Photo Photo

Our Braintrust determined in Tremont victory

by Najja Thompson

Making his second career start, Our Braintrust bested a field of seven to win the $150,000 Tremont for juveniles at 5 ½ furlongs on Friday at Belmont Park.

Breaking from the rail at odds of 10-1 and with Javier Castellano aboard, Our Braintrust was in third position behind Mae No Never and Social Fan who set fractions of 22.38 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.73 for the half.

At the quarter-pole, Our Braintrust continued to chase the leaders. Under a full drive at the five-sixteenths pole, he shifted to the rail and held off a late charging Sombeyay to hit the wire three-quarters of a length in front.

He completed distance in 1:04.41.

"He was very professional. He broke well from the gate and got right behind the pace, right behind the horses," said Castellano. "He got dirt in the face and waited for a seam. The seam inside opened, and I got to the spot. He's a very brave horse. You don't see too many young horses do that the way he did that. The way he finished, he's a nice horse."

Returning $23.40 for a $2 win wager, the Cathal Lynch-trainee and New York-bred son of Freud remained unbeaten in two starts boosting his earnings to $119,640.

"He's a nice horse. His first race he proved that he can rate and he could come from behind horses and do everything right," said Charlie Lynch, son and assistant to Cathal. "He broke sharp and Javier gave him a great ride. They just sat off the pace and the rail opened up for him and he went right up there without being bothered at all."

Looking forward, Lynch hinted that Our Braintrust may next point to a New York-bred race.

"He's [by] a New York stallion so he's probably going to be coming up here for the New York series," continued Lynch. "He's a nice horse, so we were taking our shot against some of the bigger horses to see what he can do."

Following Sombeyay in second was Mae No Never, Sir Truebadour, Outshine, Girls Love Me and Social Fan.