T Kraft is Breeders' Cup bound after holding off Crazy Mason in thrilling G3 Vosburgh
LRE Racing’s T Kraft surged to the front and needed every inch of the advantage to hold off Crazy Mason’s furious stretch drive, repelling the challenger by the slimmest of margins for a nose victory in Thursday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Vosburgh, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, at Belmont Park.
T Kraft’s thrilling victory earned him a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint October 31 at Keeneland. T Kraft is now bound to return to the Bluegrass State thanks to his front-running score under jockey Junior Alvarado.
Off at 5-1, T Kraft broke sharp from the inside post and led the nine-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.26 seconds with the half in 46.16 over the fast main track. Under Alvarado’s encouragement, T Kraft opened up at the top of the stretch. Crazy Mason, in fifth position at the stretch call, enjoyed plenty of open running room from the outside, and jockey Manny Franco’s aggressive coaxing and right-handed encouragement allowed his charge to make up ground at a furious rate, with the pacesetter and the challenger linking up in the shadow of the wire before T Kraft completed the course in 1:22.78 to secure the win.
T Kraft, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, was facing a field that included 9-5 favorite Senior Officer, rematching the two contenders who finished in a dead heat for second in the Grade 1 Forego in August at Saratoga Race Course.
This time, T Kraft earned the winner’s circle trip, with Crazy Mason besting Senior Officer by 1 1/2 lengths for runner-up status. Buttah finished fourth, with Doc Sullivan, El Grande O, Moonlight, Contrary Thinking and Bring the Smoke completing the order of finish.
For his gutsy effort Thursday, the 4-year-old Connect colt returned $13.88 on a $2 win bet. T Kraft improved his career earnings to $518,554. He was bred in Kentucky by Dr. John Eaton and Dr. Steve Laymon.
Alvarado said he kept his charge forwardly-placed when expected pace presence Contrary Thinking broke poorly.
“By a whisker, that was close, I didn’t know if I got it or not,” Alvarado said. “That other horse [Crazy Mason] came running very strong at the end, but my horse fought for me there. I saw the speed didn’t go, so I let my horse kind of take the lead. I knew he likes to fight. When I was on the lead, I thought he was cruising pretty nice fractions. I knew I’d have horse left, but you never know until you pass the wire.
“He’s such a neat horse,” Alvarado continued. “Last time, he had a little trouble between horses, and we didn’t have the cleanest trip. He still was there for me and we dead-heated for second. He was knocking on the door for a while.”
Mott’s win with T Kraft marked his third Vosburgh win in five editions, adding to Elite Power in 2022 and Cody’s Wish in 2023.
“He ran well and got away good and Junior gave him a good ride,” Mott said. “The horse we thought was the speed horse [Contrary Thinking] got away poorly and Junior knew what to do after that.”
Lee Einsidler, T Kraft’s owner, said he was impressed with his effort in the Forego and was looking forward to today.
“Very satisfying. I always felt he would like seven furlongs,” Einsidler said. “When he ran in the Forego, he was the longest shot in the race and I had every expectation he could win. He got into a little trouble there and just missed, so we thought he would run really good today. He’s improving every race – it [Breeders’ Cup Sprint] comes up quick and six [furlongs] is a little sharp, but he certainly belongs. He showed that today.”
Added Mott: “He’s improving. We’re pleased with his progress and now we’ll have to talk. It’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ and Lee will probably want to go to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Crazy Mason, trained by Gregg Sacco, also finished second in this event last year at Belmont at the Big A, and made his 11th consecutive graded stakes start.
“He ran well,” Franco said. “He always shows up. He just didn’t get there.”
Live racing resumes on Friday at Belmont with a nine-race card headlined by the Listed $175,000 Artie Schiller in Race 8, co-featuring the $175,000 Bertram F. Bongard in Race 2, and the rescheduled $175,000 Joseph A. Gimma in Race 3. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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