Tucci Stables’ Riker had no trouble winning the featured $125,750 Swynford Stakes for two-year-olds Saturday at Woodbine.
With Jesse Campbell at the controls, odds-on Riker, a Kentucky-bred son of Include-Desviacion, led every step of the way in the seven furlong contest, eventually winning by a comfortable two and one-half lengths over Tizzarunner, with Majestic Slew third. The early fractions over the Polytrack were :24.32 and :47.36, with a final time of 1:23.39.
“Well, he’s a smart two-year-old to begin with,” said Campbell, who has been aboard for all three outings. “That’s probably more than half the battle and he’s got a lot of talent to bring with it. Put the two together and this is what we’re getting.
“Really, there wasn’t much of a plan. When he popped out of there, the first quarter was pretty easy. This horse does not have to be on the lead, believe me. I’m not concerned about his running style at all.”
Trained by Nick Gonzalez, Riker thus remained unbeaten in three starts and was notching his second stakes victory, following a gutsy half-length tally over The Zip Zip Man in the six furlong Colin on July 25.
Gonzalez and Tucci Stables enjoyed their biggest moment together in 2013 when winning the famous Queen’s Plate with Midnight Aria.
“They (Carlo and Lou Tucci) make (wife) Martha’s and my job very easy,” said Gonzalez. “They take their bad pills along with the good ones and here we are enjoying a good one. He was always a precocious baby when we bought him at the sale. But as we trained him and breezed him and watched him gallop out, Jesse emphasized the fact he’s just not a one-dimensional speed horse. If and when the time comes when we’ve got to do something else, I’m confident we can.”
A $60,000 purchase earlier this year at the Ocala two-year-olds in training sale, Riker has now banked almost $160,000 in a very profitable juvenile campaign to date.
Other recent winners of the Swynford include Mine That Bird in 2008, who shockingly won the Kentucky Derby a year later, and Uncaptured, the 2012 Canadian Horse of the Year.
As the prohibitive 3-5 choice, Riker paid $3.40, $2.40 and $2.10, combining with Tizzarunner ($2.60, $2.10) for a $5.50 (4-3) exactor. A 4-3-2 (Majestic Slew, $2.40) triactor returned $11.70.
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