Social Inclusion emerged as yet another Triple Crown contender for Pioneerof the Nile after Thursday’s track record performance at 1 1/16-miles at Gulfstream Park.
The Manny Azpurua-trained Social Inclusion kept heavy favorite Honor Code at bay the entire trip, opening up by 3 1/2-lengths after six furlongs in 1:10.70. The bay colt wrapped up the distance in 1:40.97 while winning by 10 lengths under jockey Luis Contreras.
“He was doing it so easy. I wasn’t doing anything. He’s a tremendous horse,” said Contreras.
Making his second lifetime start after a 7 ½-length maiden victory on Feb. 22, Social Inclusion’s gaudy Beyer Speed Figure of 111 for Thursday’s outing is by far the highest of any 3-year-old of 2014.
“From the first time we trained him, we knew he was something special,” said owner Ron Sanchez of Rontos Racing Stable Corp. “The next step, we’re going to wait and see how he comes out of the race. We’ll take our time. We’ll wait until next week and decide, but we definitely want to go to the (Kentucky) Derby (G1).”
The 85-year-old Azpurua was understandably pleased with his star colt.
“I really like this horse and I like everything he’s done since I’ve got him. I’m so pleased with him and I believe he’s going to keep improving,” Azpurua said. “I told my wife before the race, ‘You’re going to see him break out of the gate and they’re never going to catch him. They’ll be 10 lengths behind.’”
Social Inclusion, along with Holy Bull (G2) winner Cairo Prince and Sam F. Davis S. (G3) champ Vinceremos give Pioneerof the Nile a powerful trio of contenders from his first crop for this year’s Kentucky Derby. The WinStar stallion currently ranks first on the 2014 Second Crop sire list.
