NEW YORK -- Tonalist plowed through the slop to win the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes for 3-year-olds by 4 lengths Saturday at Belmont Park.
Commissioner, sixth in the Arkansas Derby on April 12, rebounded to get second and returned $3.70 and $2.40. Irish You Well paid $3.90 to show.
Tonalist, winning in his stakes debut, could be seen next in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.
The Peter Pan is a traditional prep for the 1½-mile Belmont, the final jewel of the Triple Crown.
"Let's see how the horse comes out of it but of course we have to think about the Belmont Stakes," trainer Christophe Clement said. "We're New York people and we're at Belmont."
Tonalist, ridden by Joel Rosario, was comfortably in front all the way as the 6-5 favorite. The time was 1:48.30 for 1 1/8 miles.
BELMONT PARK
Durkin to retire
Tom Durkin, 63, the national voice of horse racing for decades, will retire from calling horse races in August at Saratoga after a 43-year career that included announcing the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup.
Durkin said Saturday that he thought 24 years of announcing on the New York circuit was enough and 25 years might be too many. Durkin, from Chicago, has handled announcing duties at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga since 1990.
"It's been exciting," he said, "and just as importantly, it's been fun."
He began his career calling races at county fairs in Wisconsin in 1971. Four years later, he started calling races at small Midwestern tracks such as Cahokia Downs, Balmoral, Quad City Downs and Miles Park. In 1981, he took over at Hialeah in Florida.
Durkin was hired to announce the first Breeders' Cup in 1984 and continued calling the world championships until 2005, when ESPN replaced NBC as the broadcaster. He called the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes for network television during a 10-year run starting in 2001. He stepped down in 2011, citing the stress of the job.
New York Racing Association president and CEO Chris Kay heard Durkin's voice at Cahokia Downs in his first visit to a track.
"The way Tom uses his voice to build to a crescendo is unparalleled, and the words he uses to describe races are pure magic," he said.
In the 1998 Belmont, Durkin called Real Quiet's failed bid to sweep the Triple Crown by a nose.
"As they come to the final sixteenth, Kent Desormeaux imploring Real Quiet to hold on! Victory Gallop, a final surge! It's going to be very close! Here's the wire!" he shouted. "It's too close to call! Was it Real Quiet or was it Victory Gallop? A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo is worth five million dollars. Oh no! History in the waiting, on hold, till we get that photo finish!"
SANTA ANITA
Bejarano injured
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Jockey Rafael Bejarano has been hospitalized after being stepped on by a trailing horse when his mount broke down in a race at Santa Anita.
Joe Ferrer, the 32-year-old rider's agent, said Bejarano broke his collarbone and a rib in the fourth race Saturday. He's expected to remain in the hospital for up to five days. Ferrer said Bejarano has no brain, internal or spinal injuries.
Bejarano was in second coming down the track's hillside turf course when his mount Gameboy Luke broke down nearing the quarter pole, unseating the rider. Track stewards said Bejarano appeared to have been struck by a trailing horse.
Gameboy Luke, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding trained by Mark Glatt, sustained a compound fracture to his left foreleg and was euthanized. He was the 6-5 favorite in the eight-horse field.
Bejarano is ranked fifth nationally in purse earnings this year with $4.92 million, according to Equibase. The Peru native has never won a Triple Crown race, but he won last year's Breeders' Cup Mile and the BC Juvenile Sprint in 2011.
In the feature race Saturday at Santa Anita, Top Fortitude won the $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 3-year-olds by 1½ lengths as a 30-1 shot.
Ridden by Kyla Stra, an Australian who earned her first North American stakes victory, Top Fortitude ran 7 furlongs in 1:22.98. The Arizona-bred paid $62.20, $17.80 and $9.
Puerto Rico-bred Tonito M. returned $8.40 and $6.40 in his U.S. debut, while Ferocious was another half-length back in third and paid $4 to show. Kobe's Back, the 3-5 favorite, broke slowly and finished fourth, beaten by 2½ lengths.
Kobe's Back finished seventh in the Rebel Stakes on March 15 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs after a slow break from the outside post.
Sports on 05/11/2014