Finding room in midstretch, Major Dude accelerated to catch stretch leader Win for the Money and outlasted a late-closing Fort Washington to prevail by a neck in the $200,000 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) Dec. 21 at Gulfstream Park.
The victory, his third in five starts in 2024 for owner Spendthrift Farm and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, marked his first score at the stakes level this year, pushing him past $1 million in earnings. Last year, he twice won stakes, taking the Penn Mile Stakes (G2T) at Penn National Race Course and Kitten's Joy Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream. Before that as a juvenile, he won the Pilgrim Stakes (G2T) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Like the one on Saturday, those stakes victories came with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.
Ortiz appeared instrumental in Saturday's victory in the 1 1/8-mile turf race, easing Major Dude off the early pace and having his mount draft behind horses in fourth as Saratoga Flash set easy early fractions of :24.13, :47.98, and 1:10.99. Midway on the turn, Major Dude began to pick off rivals under a hold from Ortiz, who kept him in the two path. But traffic in front of him provided no opening until Win for the Money took over from Saratoga Flash and a weakening, pace-chasing Emmanuel. That small gap was all he needed.
Encouraged by Ortiz, he accelerated and narrowly prevailed in a driving finish. Just a half-length separated the first three finishers, with Fort Washington checking in second and pace-pressing Win for the Money third.
The winner, a 4-year-old son of Bolt d'Oro , raced 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:45.73. His final eighth of a mile was timed in a swift :11.32. He paid $6.40 to win.
"Well, we were hoping for a little more pace. It made it a little more difficult today to get him covered up," Pletcher said. "But once Irad finally got him covered up, he was sitting in a good spot. And he's got a big turn of foot and a big kick. We just needed things to open up, which fortunately they did at the right time."
Ortiz notched his second stakes win in the Ft. Lauderdale Stakes after his initial success with Instilled Regard in 2019.
Pletcher said he ran Major Dude in the Ft. Lauderdale with hopes of the colt returning in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T), a $1 million race at Gulfstream.
"I think he ran well enough to give that a try," said Pletcher, a four-time Ft. Lauderdale winner.
No Ft. Lauderdale Stakes winners have repeated in the Pegasus World Cup Turf, though some have been competitive, such as the Pletcher-trained Largent, who ran second in 2021, and the Chad Brown-trained Instilled Regard, third in the 2020 Pegasus.
Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms, Major Dude is out of the stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare Mary Rita. He was a $550,000 purchase from Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2021 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.
The sixth-leading third-crop stallion of 2024 and also the sire of graded stakes winner Ruby Nell this year, Bolt d'Oro stands next year at Spendthrift Farm for $30,000.
