Casa Creed outduels Sombeyay in Hall of Fame Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – On the morning one of his top race mares, Royal Delta, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, trainer Bill Mott was in the winner’s circle – again – following the running of the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga.

Casa Creed, under Junior Alvarado, outfought a stubborn Sombeyay, under Luis Saez, to win the $200,000 Hall of Fame Stakes by a head at Saratoga. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Global Access in third.

The win not only capped a terrific day for Mott, but it also gave the Hall of Fame trainer a record sixth victory in this race, snapping a tie with Chad Brown, who had won the last four runnings of this turf race for 3-year-olds. Mott first won this race in 1992 with Paradise Creek.

The Hall of Fame Stakes went as Mott thought it would, with Casa Creed stalking the likely pace horses Award Winner and Sombeyay. Award Winner, under Jose Ortiz, went to the lead and set fractions of 23.41 seconds for the quarter and 47.37 for the half, with Sombeyay stalking the pace from the inside and Casa Creed three to four wide.

Approaching the top of the stretch, jockey Junior Alvarado, aboard Casa Creed, felt confident he had Award Winner measured, but was taken by surprise when Sombeyay slipped through an opening along the rail turning for home and attempted to open up.

“It made things a little harder for me, I had to start working on him a little early,” Alvarado said. “If it was about a fighter, I knew was on one of the best ones. He fights, he never gives up.”

Casa Creed needed every bit of his pugilistic personality to outfinish Sombeyay who switched to his left lead nearing the wire.

“I will give the horse a lot of credit, he was game in winning,” Mott said.

Sombeyay was equally game in defeat as he was seeking to become a stakes winner on turf and dirt. He won the Grade 3 Sanford here on dirt last year.

“I thought Luis made a smart move to back off [Award Winner] when he moved early, bided his time just lost a tough bob,” Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Sombeyay said. “He went back to his left lead, he was fighting hard.”

Casa Creed, a son of Jimmy Creed owned by Lee Einsidler and radio personality Mike Francesa, covered the mile in 1:33.72 and returned $6 as the favorite. The Hall of Fame Stakes was shortened to a mile this year with the New York Racing Association having added Sunday’s $1 million Saratoga Derby at 1 3/16 miles to its stakes calendar.