Baby Vino Shows Continued Progress With Dominant Pegasus Victory
OCEANPORT, N.J. — Baby Vino appears to be maturing quickly. The colt, who needed time to develop earlier in his career, elevated his game on Saturday at Monmouth Park, following his maiden win with a decisive 10¾-length victory in the $125,000 Pegasus Stakes, potentially setting up a showdown with some of the top names in the 3-year-old division.
The Pegasus served as the final local prepfor Monmouth’s premier event, the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes on July 18. Both Baby Vino ($7.80) and runner-up Schoolyardsuperman earned free entry and start fees into the Haskell with their performances. Baby Vino is trained by Lindsay Schultz for Cosmo Stables.
Baby Vino, a late bloomer, didn’t make his debut until December and took five starts to break his maiden. However, he had improved his finishing position and Beyer Speed Figure in every start this year prior to Saturday. He earned his maiden win with a 2¾-length score going 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park on May 1.
“He’s had trouble in all of his races, and he had trouble in his last race, but he was able to overcome it last time and get the win,” said Schultz earlier in the week. “He’s starting to relax a lot more. In his first few, he was a little keen, which could have put him into trouble, too.”
Schultz brought Baby Vino to Monmouth Park, where she is based during the summer. The colt posted a series of strong workouts that convinced both Schultz and jockey Paco Lopez that he was ready to take a step forward.
“When I saw this horse race at Oaklawn, I told Lindsay I thought he was a good horse and that he’d be better going longer,” Lopez said. “I worked him last week, so I knew he was ready.”
On Saturday, Lopez executed a flawless ride. Baby Vino settled in a perfect stalking position on the outside in the five-horse field, all seeking their first stakes wins. National Charter was aggressive early under Tyler Gaffalione, tossing his head before taking the lead and drifting out through the first turn after an opening quarter in 23.87 seconds.
Favored Schoolyardsuperman pressed on his outside through a 46.95-second half-mile. Entering the far turn, both National Charter (inside) and Baby Vino (outside) came under urging as Schoolyardsupermanbriefly took the lead. But once the field straightened into the stretch, National Charter re-rallied inside, and Baby Vinoquickly hit his best stride. The improving colt surged past both rivals and powered away unchallenged, opening up with authority to the wire.
“I was in perfect position off a couple of speed horses,” Lopez said. “My horse broke well and put me right where I needed to be. When I asked him, he gave me a big kick. I knew he would be ready for this. Lindsay does a nice job with her horses.”
The final time for the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track was 1:44.36.
Behind the winner, Schoolyardsupermanwon the battle for second by three-quarters of a length over National Charter. Tricky Business and Star Sweeper completed the order of finish. Ponder and Dream was scratched to compete instead in the Delaware Derby.
With the Pegasus victory, Baby Vino joins the list of contenders targeting the Haskell, one of the summer’s signature races for 3-year-olds. The expected field already includes Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo, Grade 1 winner Further Ado — the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite who rebounded to take the Grade 3 Matt Winnlast weekend — and possibly Hedge Ratio, the Long Branch Stakes winner at Monmouth.
