Decennial, Dominguez sharp in Belmont score

Overcoming a poor start and some traffic on her way to the front, Decennial strode home under a splendid hand ride by Ramon Dominguez to win by a widening two lengths on turf Friday at Belmont Park.

The Florida-bred Decennial (Trippi-Romantic Dinner, by Who's For Dinner) now has two wins and a third from three tries going a route of ground on grass in New York. Her only out-of-the-money effort in four starts was sprinting on the inner dirt at Aqueduct in her debut.

On Friday, the chestnut filly lunged at the start. Dominguez snaked her between the two- and three-paths on the back stretch and turn for home while patiently tracking the leaders. He asked her for run to split rivals at the eighth pole, then dove Decennial to the rail with a sixteenth to go and brought her home under "light hand urging" to draw off from second-favored Erma Lee and Jose Lezcano. Final time was 1:37.20 for a mile over firm going.

I tabbed Decennial on this blog as one of my favored, mostly bargain-seeking prospects from last year's Ocala April sale of 2-year-olds in training. She sold for just $26,000 as Hip 349, and has now earned $34,900 from four starts in the colors of Blue Devil Racing Stable under the conditioning of Carlos Martin.

Decennial is one of three near-relatives who all proved to be shrewd recommendations of mine out of OBSAPR. Her dam, Romantic Dinner, only won a single race from 30 tries, but became a multiple stakes-producer. Included in Decennial's half-siblings (and Romantic Dinner's produce) are the modest-winning Montbrook mare Almost Aprom Queen, dam of my 2010 OBSAPR sales pick RIGOLETTA (by Concerto, $35,000 Hip 725, Oak Leaf S.-G1, etc., $184,070) and the Pentelicus daughter Potluck Dinner, dam of my OBSAPR selection GOURMET DINNER (Trippi, $40,000 Hip 277, Delta Downs Jackpot S.-G3, etc., $989,660).

Those three close relatives cost $101,000 at the sale and have since combined to win eight times from 18 starts, including four stakes (one G1, one G3) and to place three more times in graded-stakes, for combined earnings of $1,208,630.

Note that Decennial and G3-winning Gourmet Dinner are bred on the same cross; both are by Trippi, with Gourmet Dinner being foaled by Decennial's half-sister.

Click here to follow all 187 of my juvenile sales picks of 2010.