Monday, 9 July 2012: Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith flew from his home base of California to ride Mucho Macho Man in the $300,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park on Saturday and the trip paid off as the big colt cruised home in the G2 event.
Mucho Macho Man won by 2.5 lengths under a hand ride, holding off a late run from G1 Donn Handicap winner Hymn Book.
Pacesetter Trickmeister held third while favorite To Honor And Serve finished fourth.
"I'm really impressed," Smith remarked of his first ride on Mucho Macho Man.
"I knew he was a nice horse, but he really impressed me.
“For a big horse, he's quick! I couldn't believe how easy he beat such a strong field. He just ran them off their feet."
"That was fabulous! What a great day!" trainer Kathy Ritvo exclaimed.
"He likes the racetrack here, and we're really happy to be here.
“We're going to take it slow and see what happens. We'll make sure he comes back great and we'll look again at what's next."
Hall of Fame horseman Bill Mott said there was "no apparent excuse" for To Honor and Serve, and jockey Jose Lezcano couldn't blame the trip as he did last time out, when the Cigar Mile winner ran third in the G1Metropolitan Handicap.
Mucho Macho Man now has a 6-3-4 record from 16 starts, with earnings of $1,306,410.
The Suburban was his third win in four starts this year for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing after wins in the Florida Sunshine Millions Classic Stakes and the Gulfstream Park Handicap.
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