Fionn noses Nitrogen in Belmont Oaks
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In terms of matching milestones, Flavien Prat was a day late. In terms of Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Oaks at Saratoga, the reigning Eclipse Award winning jockey was right on time.
Prat rallied Fionn from off the pace to nail heavily favored Nitrogen on the wire to win the Belmont Oaks by a nose, giving his filly her fifth career victory from seven starts and ending Nitrogen’s five-race winning streak.
Additionally, the win was the fifth on the Saturday card from eight mounts at that point for Prat, who would finish second with his ninth and final mount, Allofasuddenlee, in an attempt to win six races on the card. On July 4, 2023 at Belmont Park, Prat won five races from eight mounts and on July 4, 2024 he won five races from eight mounts at Aqueduct.
“I’m one day late, but it’s okay,” said Prat, who also won the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes on Obliteration earlier on the card.
Going into the race, the Belmont Oaks seemed all about Nitrogen, the filly who had won all five of her races this year, four of which were graded stakes. She won the Wonder Again, run on a sloppy Saratoga track, by 17 lengths four weeks ago.
Nitrogren, sent off the 2-5 favorite in the Oaks, raced in third position under Jose Ortiz, about three lengths behind the pacesetting Opulent Restraint, who, under Joel Rosario, had run a half-mile in 46.75 seconds chased by Totally Justified.
Ortiz moved Nitrogen into second around the far turn while Prat, who had Fionn in fifth, followed about 1 1/2 lengths behind. Nitrogen had to work hard to get by Opulent Restraint, which she didn’t do until deep stretch, but by that time Fionn was flying under Prat and got up in the final jump.
The final time of 1:44.84 over firm ground was a Mellon Turf course record for 1 1/8 miles, eclipsing the mark of 1:45.06 set by In Italian in the 2022 Diana Stakes.
“The turf course is awful fast, but that’s amazing,” winning trainer Brad Cox said.
Prat said he was getting a dream trip following Nitrogen but also said when he asked Fionn to run, the response was not immediate and Prat thought he was going to have to settle for a minor award.
“Turning for home it felt like we were going to run third, maybe second,” Prat said. “The more I asked the more she gave. Great effort.”
When Fionn (91 Beyer Speed Figure) finished third to Nitrogen in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland, she raced in last. Saturday, Fionn was never more than five lengths off the pace and was closer than that to Nitrogen.
“Flavien did a good job of keeping Nitrogen in his sights, not letting her get away,” Cox said. “There was some pace on and I thought it’d help her out and he never let Nitrogen get too far away. Obviously, we needed the whole mile-and-an-eighth to get past. Big effort.”
Fionn, a daughter of Twirling Candy owned by Michael Lee and George Messina, returned $14.40 as the second choice.
Nitrogen lost for the first time since she finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last November. Ortiz said the difficulty trying to get by Opulent Restraint likely cost him the victory.
“The filly on the lead was traveling very nicely, I attacked her when we entered in the straight and I had a hard time to put her away, but [Nitrogen] obviously put her away and she kept finding and finding, but [Fionn] beat me,” Ortiz said. “She came flying today. Tough beat, but she ran great.”
While Fionn will likely be pointed to the Grade 2, $500,000 Saratoga Oaks on Aug. 9, Nitrogen is still targeting the Grade 1 Alabama on dirt on Aug. 16.
“Oh yeah,” Mark Casse, the trainer of Nitrogen said. “I said going in whether we win, lose or whatever, we have to go to the Alabama, probably moreso now.”
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