LRL: “Keeping it simple,” Pont Aven graduates
Sixth time the charm for Maryland-bred
Frank Vespe
March 8, 2026
Jockey JG Torrealba got off Pont Aven following today’s fifth race at Laurel Park and told trainer Mike Trombetta that the horse could use blinkers next time, that he was looking around while in front of his rivals.
It didn’t seem to slow him down much, though. Making his sixth career start and second in Trombetta’s barn, Pont Aven blitzed his rivals to win a $50,290 maiden special weight contest by 6 ½ lengths. He covered the one-turn mile over a muddy, sealed track in 1:38.79.
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“We train him in blinkers,” Trombetta acknowledged. “He looks around a little bit, and the riders at the barn say the same thing, that he’s better in blinkers.”
Why not use them then? Trombetta pointed to the horse’s second and third starts, his only two with blinks and his only two out-of-the-money finishes.
“They ran him twice with blinkers, and they pulled them back off,” Trombetta pointed out. “There was probably a little bit of a reason for that.”
Torrealba put Pont Aven in the race early in the sophomore Blofeld colt’s first try at a mile, taking a head advantage over 30-1 outsider Margie’s Last after a quarter-mile in a measured 24.59 seconds. Rio Grande, the 1-9 favorite, was perched a couple of lengths farther back and outside the speed runners.
Pont Aven had inched to a half-length advantage after the half-mile went by in 48.41, and he steadily increased the margin from there: 1 ½ lengths after three quarters, three lengths with a furlong to go, and then the final bulging margin.
Margie’s Last ran gamely to hold second, a neck better than Rio Grande. Rio Grande, a $750,000 Justify colt making his first start in Brittany Russell’s barn after five winless tries in Southern California for Bob Baffert, was sent off at 1-9 but had no answers in the lane and settled for third.
Pont Aven paid $12.80 to win and topped an exacta that returned $73.50 for a one-dollar wager.
Trombetta dropped $40,000 to claim Pont Aven two starts back on behalf of owners Day At The Races LLC.
“The owner was looking for a nice kind of horse, and I had been looking for a while, and this horse was keeping good company,” Trombetta said. “And when he hit the claiming ranks, that was a time for me to say, ‘You know what, this guy should be worth the money.’”
Pont Aven was bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman and Skeedattle Associates. As a Maryland-sired runner, he qualifies for the new 5% Maryland Million bonus.
As for the future, Trombetta said the previous connections had thought the horse might take to turf, and of course, there’s still the question of blinkers or no blinkers. But those are problems for a different day.
“Look, he found his way to the winner’s circle today,” Trombetta said. “Sometimes I don’t overthink these things. I keep it simple.”
NOTES Pont Aven’s win was one of two on the day for rider JG Torrealba, and Martin Chuan and Yedsit Hazlewood also doubled… Badge of War ($4.80) won the featured $49,000 allowance contest with Chuan up for trainer Jamie Ness, who won three…
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