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​Trainer Anthony Dutrow notches 2,000th career victory with Predicted at Belmont Park

by Mary Eddy

Trainer Anthony Dutrow earned the 2,000th victory of his career when Predicted scored a 6 3/4-length victory in Friday’s third race at Belmont Park, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden claimer for 3-year-olds and up. 

Ridden to victory from post 4 by Paco Lopez, Predicted stalked the early pace set by West Star and was confidently handled by Lopez into the turn before taking a clear lead at the top of the lane and winning geared down in a final time of 1:19.24. He returned $3.30 for a $2 win ticket as the post-time 3-5 favorite. 

“I got to 1,900 wins no problem, but the last hundred has taken forever,” said Dutrow, with a laugh. “I’m so appreciative of the respect NYRA gave me just now and it’s been a lot of fun. It was an easy win for Predicted today and maybe he said, ‘OK, I can do this’ and maybe he’ll get a little better.” 

Dutrow, 65, was born in Hagerstown, Maryland and has earned several prestigious Grade 1 victories, including the Futurity [Burning Roma, 2000], the Prioress [Cat Moves, 2009], the Ogden Phipps [Seattle Smooth, 2009], the Ballerina [Rightly So, 2010], the Spinaway [Grace Hall, 2011; So Many Ways, 2012], the King’s Bishop [The Big Beast, 2014], the Alabama [Embellish the Lace, 2015], and the Hollywood Derby [Mo Town, 2017]. 

The son of multiple graded stakes-winning trainer Richard Dutrow, Sr. has also won over 190 additional graded and listed stakes, earning in excess of $75 million in total purses according to statistics provided by Equibase.

“Looking back, there’s been so many nice wins and big efforts from these horses,” said Dutrow. “Oh my goodness, I don’t even want to think because I could reflect on so many of them, even the claiming horses.”

In 2010, Dutrow was ranked the ninth leading trainer in North America by earnings for a year that saw him win eight graded stakes, led by the New York-bred Rightly So’s dominant four-length victory in the Grade 1 Ballerina and a win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy with A Little Warm, both at Saratoga Race Course. 

Several of Dutrow’s trainees have gone on to productive breeding careers, including dual-surface graded stakes-winner Mo Town, who took up stud duties at Ashford Stud, and the multiple graded stakes-winner Burning Roma, who sired three-time Grade 1-winner Sheer Drama.

“There have been so many great horses through the years and so much of it is personal because so many of them were bought and raised by my family,” said Dutrow. “To accomplish any of it with the people you’re working with, that’s as gratifying as the 2,000 wins itself.”