Adam Coglianese / NYRA Photo

Therapist wins seasonal debut in inaugural First Defence

by Brian Bohl

Oak Bluff Stables’ Therapist picked off four rivals in midstretch and edged Majestic Dunhill by a head to capture the first running of the $80,000 First Defence on Sunday at Belmont Park.

Making the first start of his 5-year-old campaign, the New York homebred returned off a nearly eight-month layoff to best a 13-horse field, hitting the wire in a final time of 1:21.39 on the firm Widener turf course.

Therapist raced in eighth position as Vici led the field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.42 seconds, the half in 45.52 and three-quarters in 1:09.36. Under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who was bidding for his fourth win of the day, Therapist made up ground and started to move on challengers from the outside in the final furlong before getting the edge on Majestic Dunhill in a duel to the wire. 

“I thought he was going to go by easy, but he hung a little bit at the end,” said Ortiz, Jr. who has a meet-leading 13 wins. “He got the job done. They went a little fast. I was sitting behind the horse that finished second [Majestic Dunhill] and I wanted to just follow him through the stretch. When I tipped my horse out, he responded really well.”

A Stewards’ Inquiry and claim of foul from Reylu Gutierrez, aboard Majestic Dunhill, alleging interference in deep stretch was denied. 

“I held my line pretty well,” said Ortiz, Jr.. “Right there, at the wire, it got close, but I controlled him right away."

The win was the second of the day for trainer Christophe Clement, whose barn suffered tragic news earlier in the day. Ten horses trained by Clement perished when the horse trailer in which they were being transported caught fire on the New Jersey Turnpike en route from Payson Park to New York. 

"It was a bittersweet end to a difficult day after the accident this morning,” Clement said. 

Therapist, who won his ninth race for Clement, went off at 8-1, returning $18.60 on a $2 win wager. Making his first start since October 25, Therapist registered his first victory since the Elusive Quality in April 2019. The Freud gelding improved his career earnings to $534,345.

"The horses have been running well and we won two races today [Pandamom in Race 4] for the same owner, Oak Bluff Stable,” Clement said. “I thought Therapist ran a very game race. He really likes the seven-eighths [of a mile].”

Majestic Dunhill, trained by George Weaver, edged Flavius by three-quarters of a length for second.

Seismic Wave, Hawkish, Vici, favorite Sombeyay, Delaware, Honor Up, Win Win Win, Lonhtwist, Skyler’s Scramjet and Nicodemus completed the order of finish. Jakarta and main-track only entrants Complexity and Stan the Man were scratched.

Live racing resumes Thursday with a 10-race card highlighted by the $80,000 Flat Out for 4-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the main track in Race 9 at 5:36 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:15 p.m.