Siena Farm’s and WinStar Farm’s Emmanuel won a thrilling renewal of the Poker S. (G3) on Belmont Day, running down Filo Di Arianna (BRZ) to win the one-mile turf race by a neck.
Emmanuel, a 4-year-old son of WinStar’s late superstar stallion More Than Ready, now has a trio of graded stakes victories in 2023, and four overall.
Emmanuel was unhurried out of the gate and was last in the field of six as they passed the half-way mark in :47.82. The bay colt, under Irad Ortiz, Jr., began his rally with three furlongs to run and came four-wide into the stretch. He was within a length of the lead with a furlong to go, and then out-footed the runner-up to get the victory.
The final time on the firm turf was 1:34.25, good for a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100.
“It’s amazing, More Than Ready has been giving to our family for a long time. It’s amazing,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “(Emmanuel) has done a little bit of everything. He’s pretty good at multiple distances, very versatile. He can go set pace like he did in last year’s Pennine Ridge (Stakes, G2T) or he can come from off of it like he did today.”
The victory upped Emmanuel’s record to 6-0-2 from 11 starts and his earnings to $587,950.
