Wilkinson puts out the Fire in Lecomte

When New York shipper Pants on Fire secured the lead in the short field of

five, Justin Phillip recovered from a bobbling start and advanced out wide into

a pace-prompting second. Wilkinson, who was reserved in fourth through the

opening quarter in :24 4/5, crept forward along the rail down the backstretch.

He overtook Action Ready (More Than Ready) for third by the time Pants on Fire

reached the half-mile in :48 4/5, and moved into second at the six-furlong mark

in 1:13 3/5. By that time, Justin Phillip was coming under pressure, and he

would come up completely empty down the lane.

Meanwhile, Pants on Fire kept to his task and still maintained a one-length

lead in midstretch. Wilkinson was the only threat, and he appeared to be in

tight quarters on the fence. Yet he still had enough room, and time, and he made

the most of it. Showing both poise and resolve, Wilkinson pursued his quarry to

the very end, clawing back the yardage close home to get up at the wire. The 3-1

third choice completed the mile and 40 yards in 1:40 4/5 on the fast track and rewarded his

backers with $8, $3.40 and $4.60.

"He's still learning how to run, but he pays attention," Gomez said. "Neil

just told me to have confidence in this horse so I did.

"I thought four or five times he was going to go by and tightened it up a

couple of times on him just to have him look a little bit. That's a young

three-year-old. That's what they do. They are still learning how to run. When

they get to certain situations they seem to really pay attention to some

things. Once he got his head in front you can see him accelerate right away. I

thought four or five times down the lane he was going to do that. It took him a

while, but he finally got by the horse and got it done."

Joe Bravo, who almost pulled off the wire job aboard Pants on Fire, recapped

his trip while complementing the winner.

"We had a really nice first turn and it set up good," Bravo said. "I was

really happy to see (Steve) Asmussen's horse (Justin Phillip) not going with us

into the first turn, and he kind of used his horse to get up with us on the

backside.

"Honestly, I take my hat off to Garrett Gomez's horse," Bravo added. "That

was a lot of effort. My horse was there and he ran hard. It was a great horse

race.

"I hate to be the guy who got beat but, you know, this was the horse's first

time here, coming into town. This is a nice horse. He was giving it all. He had

his ears pinned, and he was trying."

"I think he was a little bit flat in his last race but nonetheless ran well,"

Howard said. "Then he seemed like he had a lot of spring in his step couple of

days after that race, and his breezes were letter-perfect. He came to the race

in great shape -- weight was good, and his coat was good.

"I trained him as if we were going to the race," Howard added of his thought

process in advance of the Lecomte. "I didn't want to train him any lighter or

differently. I figured if we were going to make the decision to go to the race,

I figured he needed to train in a normal pattern. 

The Kentucky-bred is the first foal from the Canadian Grade 3-placed Tasha's

Delight (Afternoon Deelites), who has since produced an unnamed juvenile colt by

Smart Strike and a yearling full sister to Wilkinson. Tasha's Delight is in turn

a full sister to Grade 2 heroine Miss Pickums. Wilkinson comes from the female

line of Grade 1 queen Delicate Vine (Knights Choice), the dam of Grade 2 victor

Altazarr (Relaunch). Other notables in the family include Grade 1 winners

Georgie Boy (Tribal Rule) and Celtic Melody (Mr. Greeley) as well as Grade 2

scorers Rendezvous (Victory Gallop) and House of Fortune (Free House).