Belmont Derby a coast-to-coast affair
ELMONT, N.Y. – It may not have attracted a top horse from Europe, but Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby does appear to have brought together the best North American-based 3-year-old turf horses in training.
From California comes Bolo, who after detouring down the Triple Crown trail rebounded with an allowance win on turf, making him 3 for 4 over that surface. From Kentucky hails Divisidero, who already has made one successful trip to New York, winning the Pennine Ridge here May 30 despite trouble and a slow pace, making him 3 for 4 on grass.
The best turf runners based on the East Coast would appear to be Force the Pass, the Penn Mile winner, and Takeover Target, beaten a neck in the Pennine Ridge. All four of those horses, plus two relatively unheralded European runners, are among the nine-horse field set to contest the 1 1/4 miles of the Belmont Derby. The Belmont Derby goes as race 8 on the 11-race Belmont program, which begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
“It’s a very competitive field,” said Buff Bradley, the trainer of Divisidero. “Everything in there you know you have to watch because they’re going to be good. They designed this race like this because they want the top 3-year-olds. They put the money up, and they got them here.”
On paper, Divisidero looks like a stone-cold closer. But he showed under Rafael Hernandez in the Pennine Ridge that he can lay closer and still kick.
“Rafael asked him to get up there, and he was able to get up there and then relax him and throttle him back down,” Bradley said. “Just keep him out of trouble Saturday, and he’ll be all right.”
Bolo ended his 2-year-old season with a pair of wins on turf, but when given the chance on dirt, he ran third to Dortmund twice in graded stakes at Santa Anita, earning the chance to run in the Kentucky Derby. After finishing 12th to American Pharoah in the Derby, Bolo returned to turf to win an allowance race in gate-to-wire fashion.
“It was a nice place to start with him, get him back going in the right direction, back on his surface and hopefully build his confidence,” trainer Carla Gaines said. “Probably my biggest concern about the Derby trail was confidence.”
Bolo could play out as the primary speed horse in the Belmont Derby, though Granny’s Kitten showed speed in winning an allowance race at Churchill in May. He finished a late-running third in the Penn Mile.
“I would probably always prefer that he sit a bit off the pace,” Gaines said of Bolo.
Bolo represents the first horse Gaines will start at Belmont Park. Her jockey, Rafael Bejarano, has not ridden at Belmont since the fall meet of 2008.
KEY CONTENDERS
Divisidero (Last 3 Beyers: 87-88-76)
◗ Bradley believes the 1 1/4 miles of this race is going to suit his colt perfectly.
“He’s distance all the way,” said Bradley.
Bradley said he told Josh Stevens, the racing manager for the ownership group Gunpowder Farm: “The further he goes, the better he’s going to be. I can’t do enough with him in the mornings to get him tired.”
Bolo (Last 3 Beyers: 92-86-95)
◗ Though he got bounced around in the Kentucky Derby, Bolo “was no worse for the wear,” according to Gaines.
Regarding Bolo’s handy allowance win four weeks after the Derby, Gaines said: “Visually, he looked as strong as when he left [for Kentucky]. He didn’t lose weight. He’s a big, beautiful, healthy horse.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Bolo. Trainer Carla Gaines is 4-0-0-0 over the past five years in races outside of California. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Takeover Target (Last 3 Beyers: 86-85-80)
◗ Fell a neck short to Divisidero after being confidently handled by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Pennine Ridge Stakes.
“We were disappointed he didn’t win the prep race, but we learned a little something in there,” trainer Chad Brown said. “We might have been a little too forwardly placed with a lack of pace. But [Divisidero] ran terrific; I thought he ran the better race.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Takeover Target. Trainer Chad Brown is 19-5-3-2 with a $3.44 ROI over the past five years in Grade 1 turf routes in the third start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Closing Bell. Trainer Bill Mott is 12-1-2-2 with a $0.22 ROI over the past five years in graded stakes with last-out maiden winners (3-0-0-0 in Grade 1 stakes). Click for more details. – Mike Hogan