Sur La Tete cruised to an easy victory in the Grade I $100,000 Meadow Brook novice hurdle stakes at historic Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y., June 3. He defeated Serazzo (Cyril Murphy) by 31€2 lengths, stamping himself as the best horse to contest this year’s Steeplechase Triple Crown.

The bay son of Sky Classic jumped his way to the lead over the third-to-last fence and coasted to the wire under a hand ride from jockey Christopher Read. Odds-on favorite Serazzo couldn’t close the gap on Sur La Tete around the final turn. Although Sur La Tete was never challenged once he made the lead, the 6-year-old gelding established a new course record, covering the 21€2-mile distance over 12 fences in 4:36 4/5.

That mark was two-fifths of a second faster than the previous record set by Sharp Face in the 2002 Meadow Brook and more than 3 seconds faster than the previous standard set by Eclipse Award-winner Flatterer on Sept. 21, 1984. Flatterer’s impost that day was 167 pounds, while Sur La Tete toted high weight of 154 pounds.

The quick pace set by Mauritania (Calvin McCormack) and Naughty Prince (David Bentley) took the eight-horse field through the opening stages of the race. Read settled his mount at the back, while Serazzo and Jonstar (Gus Brown) tracked the pace. As the horses quickened down the backstretch the last time, Brown drove Jonstar up to challenge for the lead while Mauritania battled back gamely to his outside. Read and Sur La Tete tried to come through between them a few times, but each time Brown and McCormack squeezed him back.

However, as those three approached the last fence on the backstretch Read gunned Sur La Tete through a rapidly closing hole between Jonstar and Mauritania. Murphy took up the chase on Serazzo, but appeared to move too late. Jonstar and Mauritania continued a ferocious battle for third, with Jonstar getting the nod at the wire, more than 17 lengths behind the winner. McCormack claimed foul against Read for interference approaching the last fence on the backstretch, but the stewards quickly disallowed the claim.

 “That was great!” exclaimed Read, an amateur jockey who works for winning trainer Neil Morris. “This was my first time riding at a flat track. I’m proud because there is a lot of history here. You walk into this huge grandstand and into the paddock, and it’s just amazing.” The race went according to plan for Read until the last lap.

“Neil told me to keep him away from the inside. I broke him off where I wanted him, about two paths from the rail. But [Gus] Brown hooked up with me around the second-to-last turn and kept me pinned down on the inside where I didn’t want to be, but I was going too well to take back.”

Kinross Farm’s Sur La Tete was considered a problem horse on the flat due to some roguish behavior, but he has excelled under Morris’ training, winning three Grade I hurdle races and bankrolling $212,060. “He’s a bad shipper, so Chris brought him to Long Island last week, and we boarded him at the Old Westbury Equestrian Center about 10 miles from here,” said owner Zohar Ben-Dov. “I can’t say enough about the job [trainer] Neil Morris has done with him.”

With his Meadow Brook victory, Sur La Tete claimed two-thirds of the Steeplechase Triple Crown. He notched the first leg of the series when he won the Grade I Georgia Cup by 103€4S lengths, but missed becoming the first horse to sweep the series when he finished third to Racey Dreamer and Serazzo in the National Hunt Cup at Radnor (Pa.). In hindsight, Morris said the outcome at Radnor might have been different if the horse hadn’t spent all day in the barn there.

“They had a loudspeaker in the barn area when we got [to Radnor] that broadcast the race-calls of the three races prior to ours. That really un-nerved Sur La Tete, got him all stirred up. He had already run three races by the time we took him over to the paddock,” said Morris.

Last year’s co-champion jockey Matt McCarron was denied his personal bid to become the first rider to sweep all three legs of the Steeplechase Triple Crown. McCarron rode Sur La Tete to victory in the first leg of the series in Atlanta while Read was riding another Kinross Farm horse in a timber race at My Lady’s Manor (Md.). When Read reclaimed the mount in the National Hunt Cup, McCarron guided Racey Dreamer to victory in the second leg of the series, but his quest came to an end when he finished last in the Meadow Brook on Foretold. Racey Dreamer did not contest the Meadow Brook as his owners, EMO Stables, opted to wait for the Saratoga (N.Y.) racing season.

ELMONT, NY?JUNE 3.
sThe Meadow Brook Grade I Novice Hurdle Stakes. 21€2 miles. 137-151 lbs. Purse: $100,000. Time: 4:36:53 (new course record). Winning margin: 31€2 lengths. Winner: B. g., 1998, Sky Classic–Rutledge Place, Caro. Breeder: Rutledge Farm (Ky.). Trainer: N. Morris. 1. Sur La Tete (Kinross Farm) C. Read; 2. Serazzo (M.L. Cherry) C. Murphy; 3. Jonstar (Augustin Stables) G. Brown. Also ran: Mauritania (Whitewood Farm) C. McCormack; Naughty Prince (Barracuda Racing Stable) D. Bentley; Cherokeeinthehills (M.S. Ketts) D. Hodsdon; South By Gosh (A.O. Haynes) T. Foley; Foretold (B. Nielsen) M. McCarron.