Courvoisier certainly has a pedigree to get one excited. Saturday, at soggy and foggy Aqueduct, Courvoisier gave his connections a performance to perhaps start getting excited about as well. Courvoisier, under Jose Ortiz, overtook the pace-setting Hagler just above the eighth pole and persevered to the wire to win Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over a late-running Smarten Up. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Cooke Creek, the 7-5 favorite, in third. Unbridled Bomber finished fourth, followed, in order, by Hagler, Mr Jefferson, Ohtwoohthreefive and Rumble Strip. The win was the second straight for Courvoisier, a son of Tapit out of the Grade 1-winning mare Take Charge Brandi. On Dec. 2, Courvoisier won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race by a neck at Aqueduct. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics, and expert picks. The two wins came after three defeats to begin his career. His last three starts - including a nose loss in a maiden race at Delaware Park - came since trainer Kelly Breen added blinkers to the colt’s equipment. “We put blinkers on him to try and gain some confidence,” Breen said from Florida where he watched the race via simulcast. “Maybe he’s starting to figure it out. He’s a green horse and he needs to be ridden. Jose did a great job.” On an unseasonably warm New Year’s Day in New York - the temperatures were in the low to mid-50s - and over a track made sloppy by day-long rain, Courvoisier was hustled out of the gate in the one-mile race by Ortiz. He first raced in fourth and moved into second while kept three paths wide and to the outside of Hagler, who ran opening splits of 22.81 seconds and 45.78. Courvoisier corralled Hagler in upper stretch and was kept to task by Ortiz while gradually pulling away. Smart Up, a 21-1 longshot who was last after the opening half-mile, rallied for second under Anthony Salgado. Courvoisier completed the mile in 1:38.86 and returned $10 as the third choice in the eight-horse field. Said Ortiz: “Passing the three-eighths pole, I had to ask him a little bit, but Kelly gave me the warning, ‘He’s not going to give you anything you don’t ask for, so you have to keep pedaling and he will dig in.’ And he did.” Courvoisier was a $600,000 yearling purchase by Hill ’n Dale Equine Holdings and James Spry. His family includes Grade 1 winners Omaha Beach, Will Take Charge and Take Charge Indy. After Courvoisier won his maiden going 1 1/8 miles around two turns, Breen said he wasn’t intending to turn him back in distance to a one-turn mile. He conveyed that sentiment to Sikura, who gave his blessing to run in the Jerome. “I said he’s doing too good to have him sitting in the barn, would you mind if I ran him, and he agreed,” Breen said. The Jerome victory was worth 10 qualifying points toward the May 7 Kentucky Derby. Breen said Courvoisier would remain in New York and point to the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes, a two-turn 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct on Feb. 5.