Acoustic Ave lands third straight in Notebook Stakes

Acoustic Ave showed he can win a tight finish last time at Finger Lakes and did it again Friday when he fended off D’ont Lose Cruz and Starquist in the $97,000 Notebook Stakes at Aqueduct.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s 2-year-old son of Maclean’s Music collected his third straight win – all in stakes company – with a half-length victory over D’ont Lose Cruz in the 6-furlong Notebook. Trained by Christophe Clement, Acoustic Ave added the Notebook to victories at the Finger Lakes in the Oct. 17 New York Breeders’ Futurity and Sept. 26 Aspirant Stakes.

“He’s a 2-year-old with five starts and three stakes wins,” Clement said. “He’s obviously very tough in his own division. We’ll more than likely put him away for the winter and bring him back in the spring and see what happens. He’s a fun horse. He’s very game as you can see. He was very game in his last race and he was very game today as well.”

D’ont Lose Cruz, the 6-5 favorite in the field of five, took the early lead and led second choice Acoustic Ave by a half-length through the opening quarter-mile in :23.38. The favorite and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. maintained that same advantage through the half in :47.59 while starting to come under pressure from the outside.

Acoustic Ave came alongside D’ont Lose Cruz into the lane and the two raced side-by-side from the top of the stretch to the eighth pole. Acoustic Ave wrested a short lead from there, while D’ont Lose Cruz hung tough and Starquist mounted a belated run from third while on the outside. Acoustic Ave and jockey Manny Franco held his two foes clear in deep stretch to win in 1:13.68.

“He kind of broke a step slow and my plan was to go [to the lead], but it was perfect,” Franco said. “[D’ont Lose Cruz] was clear and we went around him and then he did the rest. I like him when he’s on the front end, but today he sat off another horse and that was good. I like him and he fights hard.”

D’ont Lose Cruz held second, a head in front of Starquist while Flashy Alex and Mshindi completed the field.

Acoustic Ave, bred by Chester and Mary Broman and purchased by the Reeves Thoroughbred Racing for $200,000 at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training, picked up $55,000 for the victory. He improved to 4-for-5 with a third – that coming in the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga Race Course – and boosted his earnings to $281,260.

“He has a tremendous amount of life and a great level of energy,” Clement said. “I love the fact that Manny did not actually have to chase the speed. He just sat off the pace and the horse responded. He was game and finished all the way until the end.”

Clement said Acoustic Ave could be headed for a break with eyes on his 3-year-old campaign next season.

“I’ll speak to Mr. [Dean] Reeves, but most likely the idea will be to bring him back in the spring,” Clement said. “Sometimes, if they’re really, really precocious you wonder if you should do that or not, so I’ll talk to Mr. Reeves and we’ll make a decision.”

Foaled at the Broman’s Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, Acoustic Ave is the first foal out of the winning Street Boss mare Rock Ave. Road. He breezed an eighth in :10 during OBS presale workouts before selling through the Sequel Bloodstock consignment.

Rock Ave. Road is out of the Broman-bred multiple stakes winner and $270,550-earner Mineralogist, a daughter of Mineshaft out of the Broman’s homebred Grade 2 winner Seeking the Ante. A daughter of Seeking the Gold, Seeking the Ante is out of Grade 1 Antespend, who Broman bought as a 4-year-old for $900,000 at the 1997 Keeneland April sale.

Acoustic Ave is a half-brother to a New York-bred yearling colt by West Coast and a New York-bred weanling colt by New York-bred champion and Grade 1 winner Audible born in April.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2022/11/25/acoustic-ave-lands-third-straight-in-notebook-stakes/

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