Belmont Oaks favorite Xcellence latest in long line
ELMONT, N.Y. – Owner Martin Schwartz has had a penchant for buying horses in Europe and bringing them to the United States to win Grade 1 races. From Gorella in 2006 to Alterite last year, Schwartz has had at least six North American Grade 1 winners who began their careers in Europe.
Xcellence, Schwartz’s most recent European import, could be the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational on the turf at Belmont Park. The 1 1/4-mile Oaks is formerly the Garden City, a race Schwartz won last year with Alterite and in 2012 with Samitar. The Oaks is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and will be shown on NBC Sports Network from 5-6 p.m. Eastern along with the Grade 2 Suburban.[bc_video_id:329086:]
Xcellence is trained by Francois Doumen but is expected to stay in the United States with Chad Brown following the race. Xcellence, a French-bred daughter of Champs Elysees, comes out of a pair of third-place finishes to the undefeated Avenir Certain in Group 1 races in France. That Xcellence finished within 1 1/4 lengths of Avenir Certain in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at 1 5/16 miles after getting beaten nearly four lengths in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) gives Doumen reason for optimism.
“That sort of makes me think that our filly is improving,” Doumen said Thursday at Belmont. “Not that she would prefer that distance we’re running on now – I think she’s a better miler than a mile and a quarter. Still, she’s getting harder and stronger, and the proof is to travel the way she did for us as such a young filly. She amazed me. I think she’s on her way up.”
Doumen has had success in the U.S. before. In 1988, he won the Hialeah Turf Cup with Double Bed. Doumen has run two horses at Belmont, with his most recent runner here, Gloria Mundy, having finished ninth in the 1993 New York Handicap.On Thursday, Xcellence worked a mile 1:46.29 over the Belmont turf course. Doumen thought the ground, which had absorbed some rain Wednesday night, was to his filly’s liking, though he was leery of more rain making the course too soft.
The remainder of the European contingent in the Oaks is somewhat suspect. Goldy Espony, who will be sent out by Brown, is coming off a seventh-place finish in a Group 1 at Longchamp in France in May after having won two races before then. Flying Jib has won three in a row but has yet to travel beyond a mile. Wonderfully, trained by Aidan O’Brien, finished ninth in the French 1000 Guineas and ninth in another group race at The Curragh in Ireland.
Room Service leads a deep American contingent in this event. Room Service, trained by Wayne Catalano, dead-heated for the win with Saturday opponent Rosalind in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland. She then shipped west to win the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita. The American Oaks, like the Belmont Oaks, was run at 1 1/4 miles.
“She ran a big race,” Catalano said. “I don’t know if was the most stellar field in the world, but it was a very good race and we’re coming back going a mile and a quarter after she proved she could get a mile and a quarter, so we don’t have to worry about that part of it.”Catalano said he would prefer firm ground to soft and was hoping that whatever rains came Friday did not make the Belmont course too soft.
Rosalind came out of the Ashland to finish fourth in the Kentucky Oaks and then shipped to England for the Coronation Stakes, where she stumbled leaving the gate, unseating jockey Kieren Fallon. She will be ridden by Julien Leparoux on Saturday.
Trainer Christophe Clement sends out both Sea Queen, the winner of the Wonder Again Stakes here May 25, and the undefeated New York-bred Summer Solo. Clement believes the 1 1/4-mile distance will favor both of his fillies.Completing the field are My Conquestadory, a Grade 1 winner at 2, and Minorette and Recepta, second and third behind Sea Queen in the Wonder Again.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Recepta. Trainer James Toner is 3 for 10 with a whopping $14.66 ROI over the past two years in turf routes with horses making their third start after a layoff.Click for more details. – Dan Illman
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