Alsvid too strong for Work All Week in Aristides

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Alsvid, sent off as the 5-2 second pick, caught and passed Eclipse Award winner Work All Week to win Saturday's $100,000 Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Roger Brueggemann, Work All Week went off as the 3-5 favorite for his 2015 debut versus six rivals in the six-furlong stakes. The 6-year-old, ridden by his regular jockey Florent Geroux, ovecame a bad start to press the pace and take the lead on the far turn.

Alsvid, with Chris Landeros aboard, went four-wide around the final turn as he rallied entering the stretch. Trained by Chris Hartman, Alsvid went by Work All Week at the top of the stretch and went on to post a two-length win over last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint champ.

"Coming out of the one-hole he had some things against him and I was proud of him today," Landeros said. "I really was. I'm more excited for the owner and trainer; they've given me a big opportunity even three years ago when I first got on this horse. I rode him in his first race (at Remington) and in his second start we won a stakes race."

Nates Mineshaft was third followed by Viva Majorca, Gentlemen's Bet, Good Lord and Googleado.

Alsvid stopped the timer at 1:09.34 on a fast track.

Owned by Black Hawk Stable, Alsvid notched his third straight win and added $60,000 to his bankroll. The 6-year-old gelding has won 13 of 30 career starts with seven seconds and three thirds for $994,225.

Alsvid came into Saturday off a victory in Oaklawn Park's Count Fleet Sprint on April 9 after claiming an allowance race at the Arkansas track on March 27.

Alsvid returned $7.20, $2.80 and $2.60. Work All Week paid $2.40 and $2.10, and Nates Mineshaft paid $4.40 to show.

Immediately after the Aristides, Work All Week's stablemate The Pizza Man captured the $65,000 Opening Verse Stakes on Churchill's Matt Winn turf course as he made his 2015 debut.

The Pizza Man, trained by Roger Brueggemann for Midwest Thoroughbreds, stalked pacesetter Frac Daddy into the stretch in the 1 1/16-mile stakes while saving ground along the rail.

Ridden by Florent Geroux, the 2-1 favorite drew away nearing the wire and registered a 2 1/2-length win over Frac Daddy with Departing third in the eight-horse field.

"I was a little disappointed with the other one (Work All Week)," Brueggemann noted, "but I really can't make an excuse for him. I thought they both ran big today. We may run in the Stars and Stripes and we might try the Arlington Million. I'd like to run in a 'Win and You're In' and maybe end up in the Breeders' Cup with him. We kind of wanted to just get a start. We got setback because of the weather this winter and we just didn't get either one of them started when we wanted to so I thought we'd run them both on the same day."

Rounding out the order of finish were R. Great Adventure, Guys Reward, Key to Power, Enterprising and Hip Four Sixtynine. Ultimo Trago and Regally Ready were early scratches.

The Pizza Man picked up $32,000 for the win and won for the 13th time in 21 lifetime starts. The 6-year-old gelding has career earnings of $841,365.

Last year, The Pizza Man won Arlington Park's Black Tie Affair, Stars and Stripes and American St. Leger Stakes.

The Pizza Man paid $6.20, $3.40 and $2.60. Frac Daddy returned $3.40 and $2.60, and Departing paid $3.00 to show.