Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum's Far Right found himself behind a wall of horses at the top of the stretch in the $300,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park Feb. 22, but with a sharp move to the rail by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, the Notional colt rallied to win his second straight stakes.
Far Rightrallied from ninth place -- 9-3/4 lengths back -- after early leader Mr. Z opened the first quarter in :23.61 seconds and closed gamely to win the 1-1/16-mile race by three-quarters of a length on a track rated sloppy.
Mr. Z, who was favored at 2-1 and led after the half (:47.90 seconds) and six furlongs (1:14.33), came out of the final turn wide with closing longshot The Truth Or Else and Hillbilly Royalty, which opened up a gaping lane on the rail for the Ronald Moquett-trained Far Right.
Bred in Kentucky by Nossab and Patrick Crowley, the colt out of the Vindication mare Zindi finished the test in 1:47.50, while carrying the highweight of 123 pounds.
The 3-year-old -- with Smith in the irons -- took a similar closing route to win the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Jan. 19 and picked up 10 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands standings with his first graded-stakes win Sunday. Far Right sits in sixth place, with 22 total points. Zayat Stables' Mr. Z, who finished third by a nose to The Truth Or Else in the Southwest, is also in contention in the standings. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee is tied for eighth with 14 points.
"Everything is good in the hood," Moquett said. "It was exactly like the Smarty Jones, except we were giving seven pounds to everybody. That's something that nobody printed anywhere. That's kind of a lot to give a little guy. I just knew our horse was strong and he gets stronger at the end of his races."
At first it appeared Truth Or Else, who left the gate at 22-1, would get the winning closing trip to the outside, but the Yes It's True colt with Calvin Borel aboard had to go five wide through the final turn.
"I thought Calvin had made the winning move at first and I wish I had been able to make that move," Smith said. "I was watching [Mr. Z] and I just didn't want to be on the outside of him. I was patient and was just hoping an opening would open up, and it did."
Far Right paid $7.40, $3.40, and $2.80 across the board. The Truth Or Else returned $14 and $7.60, while Mr. Z paid $3.40 to show.
Far Right increased his career earnings to $425,766 with the $180,000 Southwest score and pushed his record to 3-2-2 in eight starts. Mr. Z, who is now 1-4-3 in 10 starts, still has yet to beat winners after his debut victory in a maiden special weight event at Churchill Downs in June, but has career earnings of $544,726.
"I was wanting to track another horse, but inherited the lead," said Corey Nakatani, Mr. Z's jockey. "He ran really well considering the conditions. I think once he gets onto a surface that doesn't have all the weather going on it, it will move him forward."
Bold Conquest closed to finish fourth, followed by Hillbilly Royalty, Majestico, Private Prospect, Bayerd, Phenomenal Phoenix, Kantune, and Bold Animaux, to complete the order of finish.