Summer Revolution, Tom’s Ready point to Cigar Mile

ELMONT, N.Y. – Summer Revolution began his comeback with a nifty optionalclaiming win at Belmont Park last week. The career of Tom’s Ready is winding down, but he added another graded stakes win to his record Saturday in the Bold Ruler. Both horses are being considered for the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Dec. 2.

Summer Revolution, beautifully prepared by Rudy Rodriguez for his first start in 10 months, returned in sharp form for his 4-year-old debut last Thursday. He blew to the lead in upper stretch of the six-furlong sprint and then comfortably held a twolength advantage to the wire.

He was given a 91 Beyer Speed Figure for his win in the second-level optional claimer and can be expected to build on the performance going forward.

“He ran the way we expected,” Rodriguez sad. “I thought it was a good race. I have to thank the owner for being patient and letting us take our time with him.”

Summer Revolution turned heads last summer when he began his career with a pair of impressive seven-furlong scores. He won his debut at Belmont by 7 1/4 lengths, then came back to beat Neolithic by three lengths. He earned a 106 Beyer in that race.

The efforts encouraged Rodriguez to jump him up in class, and Summer Revolution finished fourth in the King’s Bishop at Saratoga before stretching out in distance in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. He finished ninth in the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby, then shortened up in distance for his final two starts at 3. Following a sixthplace finish in the Gravesend at Aqueduct, Rodriguez pulled the plug on Summer Revolution and sent him to Niall Brennan’s stable in Ocala, Fla., for a rest.

“We tried different things with him, different distances, different tracks, and he got a little sour on us at the end of last year,” Rodriguez said. “We gave him a lot of time.”

Summer Revolution worked once at Brennan’s facility in April and then again in late June and early July before rejoining Rodriguez’s barn. He has worked 12 times since at Belmont and Saratoga.

Owned by Jeff Drown, Summer Revolution looked like his old self in winning last week.

“I’ve talked with the owner that the Cigar Mile might be the right race for him now, and that’s what we are thinking,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve always had a lot of confidence in this horse, and I still do.”

Tom’s Ready will race in the Cigar Mile for trainer Dallas Stewart and then head off to stud at Spendthrift Farm. He took advantage of a fast early pace in the seven-furlong Bold Ruler and finished strongly to run down Stallwalkin’ Dude by threequarters of a length. He was given a 105 Beyer, the best figure in his 20-race career.

Tom’s Ready, a 4-year-old son of More Than Ready, has now won three graded stakes. He won the Grade 2 Woody Stephens at Belmont and the Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs at 3.

His connections would love to get him a Grade 1 win before he retires, and the Grade 3 Bold Ruler was a step in the right direction. It also pushed him over $1 million in earnings.

Analyze It impressive in debut

Analyze It made an auspicious 2-year-old debut for owner William Lawrence and trainer Chad Brown on Saturday at Belmont Park, winning a one-mile race on turf by 6 1/4 lengths.

Analyze It, from the first crop of five-time Grade 1 winner Point of Entry, took the lead soon after the start and was joined and then headed by another rival. When set down for the stretch run by Irad Ortiz Jr., Analyze It took off and left the competition far behind.

Following splits of 47.44 and 1:11.36, Analyze It covered his final quarter in 22.95 seconds for a final time of 1:34.31, earning an 89 Beyer Speed Figure.

In comparison, five races later on the card, the 2-yearold Therapist improved his record to 3 for 3 with a rallying victory in the $100,000 Awad Stakes. The pacesetting Looking Ready set quicker fractions of 46.90 and 1:10.83 before Therapist rallied to victory in 1:35.41, 1.10 seconds slower than Analyze It over the same Widener turf course. Brown was impressed. “He had trained well, and I expected him to run well, but you’re never expecting a performance like that the first time,” he said.

With the turf season in New York winding down, Brown said he didn’t have any immediate plans for Analyze It.

“I will talk to Mr. Lawrence about what to do next, but we might just send him south and point to next year,” he said.

Five stakes at Aqueduct

Five stakes will be run at Aqueduct over Breeders’ Cup weekend.

The Friday opening-day feature will be the Grade 3, $150,000 Tempted, a one-turn mile for 2-year-old fillies. Impressive maiden winner Navajo will be a solid favorite in the six-horse field for trainer Tony Dutrow.

Navajo rallied from off the pace to win a one-mile race at Belmont by 3 1/4 lengths on Oct. 1.

“She’s taken another step forward since that race,” Dutrow said.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Long Island, a 1 1/2-mile turf marathon, tops the Saturday card. It has a six-horse field that includes two runners from the barn of Chad Brown – Galileo’s Song and Texting – and Arles, who will make her first start since January and is trained by Graham Motion.

The Sunday stakes is the Grade 2, $200,000 Nashua, a mile race for 2-year-olds.

The $100,000 Chelsey Flower, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies, and the $100,000 Pumpkin Pie, a sixfurlong race for fillies and mares, which were part of the canceled Sunday card at Belmont, have been rescheduled.

The Chelsey Flower will be held Saturday, and the Pumpkin Pie will be brought back for Sunday.