Fore Left won a maiden race at Santa Anita in his career debut by a neck. His second start, the $150,000 Tremont Stakes at Belmont, came a lot easier.

Fore Left, looking like a better-than-par early-season 2-year-old, went straight to the front in the Tremont, a 5 ½-furlong dirt race for 2-year-olds, and looked like a winner the entire trip. He set splits of 22.58 and 45.77 while racing in the clear under Mario Gutierrez, bounded lively off the turn and into the homestretch, changed leads like a seasoned pro and was gone, pulling away to win by about five lengths, stopping the timer in 1:04.44, and paying $5.30 to win as the favorite.

Theitalianamerican finished a well-beaten second but actually ran pretty well in defeat, coming from well behind the leader with a solid-looking outside finish. Rookie Salsa, who tried to run to the leader at the quarter-pole, flattened out and finished third. Maven, the 7-5 morning-line favorite, was scratched.

Doug O’Neill trains Fore Left for Reddam Racing LLC. Bred by Machmer Hall, Fore Left is a son of Twirling Candy and the Unbridled’s Song mare, Simply Sunny.

Look for a full recap of the Tremont soon at www.drf.com