**Please the attached photos of Grade 3, $150,000 Saranac winners Unbridled Command and jockey Ramon Dominguez. Credit
NYRA,
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Contact: Jon Forbes
DOMINGUEZ WINS 6, INCLUDING G3 SARANAC; ESTABLISHES
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Ramon Dominguez won six races on Sunday, including a 10-1 upset in the Grade 3, $150,000 Saranac aboard Unbridled Command, establishing a Saratoga Race Course meet record in the process.
With one day remaining in the 40-day meet, Dominguez, the two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey, has won 66 races. The previous record for wins by a jockey during the
With his big day on Sunday, Dominguez became the first jockey to win six races on a single
Unbridled Command gave Dominguez his sixth win on Sunday by racing in fifth as free-running Skyring set fast fractions of 22.51, 46.35, and 1:10.80, launching a rally between horses midway on the final turn, claiming a narrow lead at the head of the stretch, and digging in late to defeat the pacesetter by a half-length.
“I was focusing on giving [Unbridled Command] the best ride that I could and getting the most from him,” said Dominguez. “Coming to the three-eighths pole, when I was able to squeeze in between horses, he gave me a great kick. I knew I wasn’t already there, but I was excited. It was neat. When I passed the wire, it was one of those [moments] to take a second to let all of it sink in.”
Unbridled Command completed the 1 1/8 miles of the Saranac, a turf race for 3-year-olds, in 1:46.54 and returned $22.60 for a $2 win wager.
“I actually think the horse would have been 15-1 or 16-1 if it wasn’t for Ramon riding,” said winning trainer Tom Bush. “I was very fortunate to get him. You’re always in good hands in the big races when you can get the top riders, and he’s obviously the best.”
Overall, Unbridled Command, a Lakland Farm color-bearer, is 4-1-2 in eight starts. The $90,000 winner’s share of the Saranac purse lifted his earnings to $214,040.
Other meet highlights for Dominguez have included wins in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Travers (the latter via dead heat) aboard Alpha and four-win days on August 9 and August 13.
Dominguez has already clinched his second Angel Cordero, Jr.
Favored Lucky Chappy was third in the Saranac, followed by King Kreesa, Excaper, Set the Sail, Starforce, Quick Wit, Spring to the Sky, and Shkspeare Shaliyah.
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