Sand Devil fends off National Identity to stay unbeaten in Saturday’s Damon Runyon at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.
By Paul Halloran
It wasn’t nearly as easy as his first two starts or the tote board indicated it would be, but Sand Devil dug in down the stretch Saturday at Aqueduct to take the Damon Runyon Stakes and remain undefeated.
The Chester and Mary Broman homebred outlasted a game National Identity to win the New York-bred stakes 3-year-olds by a neck, a margin trainer Linda Rice thought was closer than necessary.
“I thought he should have opened up in the middle of the turn,” Rice said of jockey Jose Lezcano. “They went slow down the backside and we were inside the other speed horse. It is what it is. I thought he should have opened up more. He gave the other horse too much of a chance.”
A son of Violence out of the Bromans’ homebred Mineshaft mare Mineralogist, Sand Devil didn’t have to work too hard to get to the lead in the 7-furlong stakes. National Identity broke first, but Lezcano came up the rail to take the advantage heading into the turn through a quarter-mile in :24.52 and a half in :48.58.
He maintained a three-quarter-length advantage around the turn, but never extended it, as Rice would have preferred. National Identity almost pulled even at the eighth pole and, after Sand Devil regained some breathing room, came running again but couldn’t catch the winner. The final time was 1:24.66.
“Today was the first time he had a tussle and he dug it out,” Rice said. “That other horse can run a little bit, but, like I said, they went slow early and sprinted home, and it was a strategic mistake for Jose to give that horse a chance to get head-and-head. He’d already had an advantage, and he should have used it, but we got to the winner’s circle and we move forward.”
Sand Devil, who doesn’t actually turn 3 until February 15, is the fifth foal out of Mineralogist, a multiple stakes winner out of the graded stakes-winning and New York-bred champion Seeking the Gold mare Seeking the Ante. Mineralogist’s most productive progeny to date is the Broman homebred Can You Diggit, a stakes winner by Tiznow who banked $436,555 in a 20-race career. Pretty Clever, a daughter of Hard Spun, earned $179,480.
“The other horse gave me a good run, but my horse is very nice,” Lezcano said. “Today, we go slow and the horses sprinted hard home. My horse is a big horse and he isn’t that quick when you ask him – it takes him a couple strides to get into full stride, so this is why the other horse come very close to him. He kept responding every stride I asked him to. My horse had the advantage today, but still my horse had (to put up a good performance) to win. Every race, he improves more and more.”
Sand Devil arrived in Rice’s barn at Saratoga in July after a few setbacks. She said that within a few months he started to show some talent, but she took her time with him. He broke his maiden December 8 and followed that with a 12 1/2-length allowance score January 2, earning a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
Rice considered running in the Withers Stakes February 1, but opted to keep the colt in state-bred company and sprinting for one more start. Open company awaits, however, with the Gotham Stakes March 1, a 50-point Kentucky Derby prep race, a definite possibility, according to Rice.
