Photo: Adam Coglianese
With the look of an emerging upset specialist, Chester and Mary Broman’s homebred Mineralogist snuck up on a strong field of stakes-caliber New York-bred fillies and mares at long odds for the second time this year to capture the $60,000 Soft Morning Stakes at Aqueduct on Thursday.
Winner of both the Joseph A. Gimma and Maid of the Mist at two, Mineralogist missed all of last year, sidelined first by knee surgery and then by an infection. Unplaced in four starts after her return at age four and relegated to fifth choice of six at odds of 7-1 for the $75,000, nine-panel Saratoga Dew in August at the Spa, Mineralogist answered the challenge of her first two-turn start for trainer John Kimmel by making a strong late run to win by a head.
The situation was not too far different in the Soft Morning. Mineralogist had finished off the board in two starts since the Saratoga Dew, both at Belmont, running fourth after altering course in the stretch in the off-the-turf John Hettinger, and ending up more than 12 lengths out of it in the Ticonderoga on Showcase Day, her first turf start. With regular rider David Cohen aboard and toting the 124 pound high weight on Thursday, Mineralogist was drawn in the outside post of five for the Soft Morning at longshot odds of 13-1.
An ultra-keen Opus A (Read the Footnotes), who broke through the gate before the start and caused a brief delay, tugged her way up to the front by the time the field entered the first turn, and led the way through early splits of a quarter in 23.99 and a half in 48.38.
By the far turn Opus A still had a length advantage on her closest rivals, Spa City Princess and Saltamontes, who tracked in second and third, while Mineralogist, who had raced in last early, started to launch a big move three wide to enter contention.
Mineralogist gained a short lead in upper stretch and, under a drive in the final furlong, kept a stubborn Opus A at bay to secure the win by neck. Opus A finished 3 1/4 lengths in front of show horse Spa City Princess, while Saltamontes (the lone three-year-old in the field) and Bailzee completed the order of finish. The final time for the 1 mile 70 yards over a “good” track was 1:44.09 for a 76 Beyer Speed Figure. [VIDEO]
After the Saratoga Dew jockey David Cohen had praised Mineralogist’s “nice, one-run style,” best employed when “we let her fall back and let her do her thing,” and the same tactics spelled success on Thursday.
With her second stakes victory of 2011, Mineralogist now has four state-bred stakes victories and one stakes placing to her credit. She has compiled a career record of 5-1-0 from 13 starts and earned $264,550. Owner-breeder Chester Broman said that that the four-year-old would be pointed to another state-bred overnight stakes sometime in February.
The bay daughter of Mineshaft is the first foal out of successful Broman homebred Seeking the Ante (Seeking the Gold), also trained by Kimmel. In 2005 Seeking the Ante won the Grade 2 Nassau County Breeders’ Cup S. and Iroquois S. and placed in two more Grade 2 events. The previous year she took the Iroquois. Retired after two campaigns, she bankrolled $392,830.
Seeking the Ante’s second foal, Risk a Chance, a three-year-old filly by A. P. Indy (also in Kimmel’s charge), has won twice ($64,825). The mare has a weanling filly by Medaglia d’Oro and was bred back to Mineshaft this year.
