Firenze Fire rallies to True North victory; Victim of Love upsets Vagrancy

Firenze Fire gave jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., his fourth winner on the Belmont Park card Saturday, when he delivered as the favorite in the Grade 2, $150,000 True North.

The race was one of four stakes on a program led by the Grade 1 Just a Game.

Firenze Fire ($4.20) won by a length and a half over Stan the Man. It was another 3 1/4 lengths back in third to Yorkton.

Firenze Fire was content to sit just off the pace set by Yorkton, who took the field through an opening quarter in 22.84 seconds and a half-mile in 45.85. Firenze Fire came into the stretch four wide, moved past the leaders, and went on to cover 6 1/2 furlongs in a quick 1:15.53 over a fast track.

“He did everything right,” Ortiz said. “We broke and got into a good position and I was just waiting. Turning for home, I asked him and he responded really well. We were close to the pace, but I just held him together. I didn't want to be fighting, so I just tried to let him relax and he really responded when I asked."

The long range goal with Firenze Fire is the Breeders’ Cup, said trainer Kelly Breen.

"He's a nice horse,” he said. “When things click like that, it doesn't get much better than that.

“Hopefully, we can move onward to Saratoga and find a nice spot for him there. The goal is to get him to the Breeders' Cup.”

Firenze Fire was winning the 10th stakes race of his career Saturday, and the first-place check of $82,500 pushed his earnings to $1,939,250. The Grade 1 winner is a 5-year-old son of Poseidon’s Warrior and he races for his breeder, Mr Amore Stables.

Victim of Love upsets Vagrancy

Earlier on the card, Victim of Love raced with the pace and had plenty in the stretch to pull a 27-1 upset in the Grade 3, $100,000 Vagrancy Handicap.

The 6 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares was run in the rain, on a fast track that was opened for the race after being sealed and good for the prior dirt race at Belmont.

Victim of Love won by 1 3/4 lengths over 4-5 favorite and highweight Come Dancing. It was another 4 1/4 lengths back in third to Pacific Gale.
Victim of Love ($56) tracked Jakarta through an opening quarter in 22.47 seconds and a half-mile in 45.49. She moved to the lead in the stretch and held off a bid from Come Dancing to cover the distance in 1:16.27.

Jose Lezcano was aboard for trainer Todd Beattie.

“She broke a little bit behind, but with a tap on the shoulder, she jumped right there on the bridle,” Lezcano said. “When I asked her, she really took off. My filly kept going the whole way around and never stopped. She gave me everything she had.”

Come Dancing rallied between horses in the stretch, one start after racing around two turns in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap in April at Oaklawn Park.

“It was her second start of the year,” said jockey Javier Castellano. “I'm not disappointed. The horse on the lead was much the best today. I think that the track is playing a little bit to speed. The rain didn't bother her at all. I'm looking forward to a big race next time.”

Victim of Love was winning her first graded stakes and her third overall stakes. She came into the Vagrancy off an uncharacteristic fifth-place finish in the Nellie Morse, beaten 15 lengths in the mile race March 14 at Laurel. Victim of Love has now won 5 of 15 starts. The first-place check of $55,000 on Saturday pushed her earnings to $279,829.

Victim of Love is a 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown who races for Tommy Town Thoroughbreds. She is from the Grade 2-winning mare Spacy Tracy, who is the dam of Grade 2 winner Benner Island and multiple stakes winner High North.

- additional reporting by Mike Welsch