3% Processing fee will be assessed on all credit card payments

April 18, 2022

Not This Time’s Arzak sets track record in Woodbine’s Thorncliffe S.

Arzak rocketed away from the field at the top of the Woodbine stretch to win the $106,400 Thorncliffe S. by 3 ¼-lengths in track record time.

The 4-year-old colt, who was making his 2022 debut, is the sixth stakes winner this year for Not This Time, who leads all Third-Crop sires in nearly every category and has three potential Kentucky Derby (G1) starters in Epicenter, Simplification and In Due Time.

Arzak broke well and was in a three-way battle for the lead from the outset. He was never more than a length from the front at any point while three-wide on the turn. He stuck his head in front just inside the quarter pole, then quickly separated himself from the field to win going away.

The final time of 1:02.36 established the new track record for 5 ½ furlongs on the Woodbine main track.

“I already talked with (trainer Michael Trombetta),” said jockey Kazushi Kimura. “(Last year) a couple of times he had traffic trouble. I just made sure to warm him up well. I just kept him clear, and I already knew that number six (Spite Store) had speed, so I just sat beside him.”

Arzak races for the Sonata Stable and is 4-1-1 in 12 starts, with earnings of $183,669. The chestnut colt, who won last year’s Tom Ridge S., was bred in Kentucky by John Oxley.