Chelsea Durand / NYRA Photo

Step Dancer rides hedge to victory in $80K Awad

by Ryan Martin

Hayward R. Pressman, Diamond M Stable and Donna Pressman's Step Dancer was patiently ridden by jockey Dylan Davis and found racing room at the right time to secure a stakes victory in Saturday's $80,000 Awad for juvenile colts going 1 1/16 miles over Belmont Park's Widener turf course.

Davis secured a spot for the War Dancer colt along the hedge, as stakes-placed Kidnapped was in command through opening fractions of 25.65 and 51.56 seconds over the yielding turf. Around the far turn, the pacesetter was confronted on the outside by Like a Saltshaker and It Can Be Done while Step Dancer was behind rivals waiting for a seam to emerge.

Approaching the final furlong, Kidnapped gave way as Like a Saltshaker, poised for an upset, took command. But Step Dancer displayed a devastating inside stretch run and got up in time for victory, besting the 15-1 longshot by three-quarters of a length. Space Launch finished another 3 ¼ lengths back in third.

Step Dancer stopped the clock in 1:48.69 and upped his lifetime earnings to $96,100 improving to 3-2-0-1.

Trained by Barclay Tagg, Step Dancer arrived at the Awad off a third-place finish to gate-to-wire winner Fire At Will in the Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 3. He lit up the tote board at 24-1 odds in his career debut when besting his Empire State-bred counterparts on September 4 over a Mellon turf course at Saratoga rated good.

While Tagg was at Keeneland overseeing the final preparations for four-time Grade 1-winner Tiz the Law, one of the favorites for the Grade 1 $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on November 7, chief assistant Robin Smullen was present to saddle the horse.

"Last time we ran, we stayed a little too close to the pace and we thought we had to on the inner turf but it took away from his kick," Smullen said. "Today, I told Dylan I wanted him five lengths off the pace and to find a spot and don't ask him until he turns for home. He came home with a great kick. He doesn't need to get to the outside. He showed that he's game and he can do whatever you want."

Davis said Step Dancer took to the yielding ground and that his plan of following the leader came to fruition.

"I saw Jose [Ortiz] looking for some room and I was just making sure I had some options in front of me," said Davis, who has been aboard for all three of Step Dancer's starts. "Jose was able to get through, so I followed him, and I thought something else might open up, and it did. He just loved the ground. He kept finding more and more. I was very impressed with him today. It was just like how he wowed me first time out. He really stepped up again today."

Bred in New York by Sugar Plum Farm and Richard Pressman, Step Dancer is the first offspring out of the English Channel mare Just Be Steppin.

Completing the order of finish were Wootton Asset, It Can Be Done, Shawdyshawdyshawdy, It's a Gamble, Catman, Kidnapped, Claw and Heat of the Night. Take Profit and also-eligible entrant Master of the Ring were scratched.

Live racing resumes on Sunday, November 1 [Closing Day] featuring the $80,000 Pumpkin Pie for fillies and mares going seven furlongs over the main track and the $80,000 Chelsey Flower for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles over the Widener turf. Closing Day also features a mandatory payout of the Empire 6. First post is 12:15 p.m. Eastern.