Komorebino Omoide digs in to win Listed $150K Stymie

Perry Martin’s Japanese homebred Komorebino Omoide gave fans of Hall of Famer California Chrome something to smile about as the son of the popular multiple Grade 1-winner set the pace and dug in gamely to win Saturday’s Listed $150,000 Stymie, a one-turn mile for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Making his first start for trainer Rob Atras after making the majority of his prior starts for Robertino Diodoro, the 6-year-old chestnut set sharp splits while being pressed by Grade 2-winner Phileas Fogg and found enough late to fend off the charge from multiple graded stakes-placed Yo Daddy and win by one length.

Komorebino Omoide, winner of last May’s Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park, made his seasonal bow off a fifth in Fair Grounds Race Course’s Listed Tenacious in December, and notched his fourth lifetime stakes victory from seven overall wins.

Atras said he is plenty familiar with the gelding, especially after saddling him for Diodoro ahead of a second in Fair Grounds’ Thanksgiving Classic in November.

"I've seen this horse run good everywhere. I saddled him when Robertino had him at Fair Grounds when he almost went to the front going six furlongs with some very fast horses,” Atras said. “He's run a mile and an eighth and run good. He's just a racehorse. You don't see too many like that anymore, usually they have a niche where they like a mile or turf - with him, he just shows up whatever you throw at him. He's a cool horse and as game as he was after setting those fast fractions was pretty impressive."

Ridden to victory by Ramon Vazquez, Komorebino Omoide was away sharply from the outermost post 3 while the favored Phileas Fogg was hustled by Jaime Rodriguez to press along the inside through the opening quarter-mile in 22.49 seconds over the good and harrowed footing.

Komorebino Omoide was nudged by Vazquez after marking the half-mile in 45.03 and edged clear of Phileas Fogg, who was already being asked as Jose Lezcano got to work on Yo Daddy from five lengths back.

Phileas Fogg retreated and Komorebino Omoide had a two-length lead exiting the turn, but was not home free as Yo Daddy flew past a spent Phileas Fogg and made up ground with every stride with a wide bid into the lane.

Komorebino Omoide and his new challenger were shoulder-to-shoulder through seven furlongs in 1:24.38, but the former found another gear late to separate from Yo Daddy in the final sixteenth and edge clear to score in a final time of 1:38.27. Phileas Fogg finished third another 24 lengths back. Ridgewood Runner, who is entered in a March 5 claiming tilt here, and Counterspy were scratched along with morning-line favorite Full Screen, whose trainer Brad Cox indicated the gelding is dealing with a foot issue.

Komorebino Omoide had been entered to run in the Fifth Season at Oaklawn on February 5, but was scratched. Atras said he was pleased with the decision to run in the Stymie versus the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Mile at its namesake oval, which was won easily by the favored Knightsbridge.

"We had to scratch at Oaklawn and we brought him back down to Fair Grounds and were training him trying to figure out if we were going to run at Gulfstream or here,” Atras explained. “I really didn't want to run against Knightsbridge, so I said to Perry that New York might be a better spot - not an easy spot, but a better spot. At least, we'd have a shot to win here. I don't think we had a shot to win against Knightsbridge, who I think I saw gallop by about 15 [11 1/4-lengths] earlier. I thought this was the right spot and I'm glad we made the right move, sometimes you do.”

Vazquez, who was aboard for the win in the Steve Sexton, said he was pleased to be at the front after a sharp break as Rodriguez hustled Phileas Fogg into contention early.

"I don't want to be on the lead, but they let me go easy, so I got a perfect trip - perfect pace,” Vazquez said. “At the top of the lane, when the other horse [Yo Daddy] outside put on me a little pressure and got moving, my horse responded right away. My horse, he loves to fight with the other horses so that makes my job easy.”

Atras said he may entertain the idea of trying the gelding in the seven-furlong Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets on April 4 here.

“The Carter's not a bad idea. I really don't know yet,” Atras said. “You know me, I'm kind of race to race and don't have a big, long-term plan with the horse yet. We were just trying to get this race and go from there. This was the result we were hoping for and now we can sit down with Perry and think what we want to do. I think we'd keep all our options open."

Lezcano tipped his hat to the winner after the Linda Rice-trained Yo Daddy put forth a game effort in his second start off an eight-month respite that ended with a local optional claiming score last out on February 4.

"It was a good race. My horse gave me everything he got. The winner, he ran hard the whole way and still won the race,” Lezcano said. "It was how it looked on paper. I broke running, but those horses broke running, too. I sit at the back a little bit and when I asked my horse, he gave me everything he got."

Komorebino Omoide is out of the stakes-placed Trippi mare Decennial, and is a second-generation homebred for Martin, who co-bred and co-owned California Chrome through a career that saw him earn over $14.7 million across 16 wins that included the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness ahead of a dead-heat fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Komorebino Omoide, whose name translates to “memories of sunlight filtering through the trees,” banked $82,500 in victory and increased his total purse earnings to $850,666 while returning $8.26 on a $2 win bet.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with an eight-race card featuring the $135,000 Correction in Race 7. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. 

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