Force the Pass pulls away in Belmont Derby

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though he had won the Grade 3 Penn Mile by only a head, it was the way Force the Pass did it that convinced owner Richard Santulli that his 3-year-old could get 1 1/4 miles.

Santulli’s confidence was rewarded as Force the Pass, making a move to the lead under Joel Rosario at the three-eighths pole, kept on going and galloped to a 3 3/4-length victory over European shipper Canndal in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational at Belmont Park. It was 2 1/2 lengths farther back to Startup Nation, who nosed out Closing Bell for third.

Takeover Target, Postulatoin, Divisidero, Granny’s Kitten, and Bolo completed the order of finish.

Bolo, the 2-1 favorite, was vanned off after the race. Jockey Rafael Bejarano said Bolo started to lug out with about 3 1/2 furlongs to go, and he basically eased him in the stretch.

“When he switched leads, he was starting to lug out because he was protecting too much his left front,” Bejarano said. “I tried to keep going, but he showed me a couple of stumbles really bad. I couldn’t keep running, so I had to stop. He was sore.”

Back at the barn a little while later, trainer Carla Gaines said she saw no indication of soreness from Bolo, who jogged soundly on the road outside the barn. Bolo was standing in his stall munching on hay.

“He’s fine,” said Gaines, who added that two veterinarians examined the horse.

Meanwhile, Force the Pass won for the fourth time in six career starts for Santulli and trainer Alan Goldberg. This was his first race beyond one mile. Perhaps because he hadn’t run farther than a mile, he was sent off at 10-1. He returned $22.20 to win after running 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.16.

“His last race at Penn, the betters discounted the race, but he was stuck,” Santulli said. “With a sixteenth to go, he had nowhere to go, and when [Rosario] pulled him outside, he just flew. He trains good; he has a good, long stride. We had the mare [Social Queen]. She was by Dynaformer. I thought they’d go 50 [seconds for a half-mile], and he’d be sitting three lengths off. Rosario rode him beautiful. They weren’t going to beat him when they got to the top of the lane.”

Rosario did indeed have Force the Pass in third after a half-mile in 50.30 seconds and six furlongs in 1:15.38. He said he moved at the three-eighths pole because Bolo was getting out and his horse hadn’t really done any running yet.

“We weren’t going that fast,” Rosario said. “I was in a bad spot there. I had to go forward or I have to get to the outside, and the horses were already coming back to me. I had room to go on the inside. I took the chance to go in there and try to control the race from there.”

While Bolo appeared to have some sort of excuse, Divisidero, the second choice at 5-2, did not. He was last through the first half-mile, but jockey Rafael Hernandez said his horse was dragging him into contention around the turn and just came up flat in the stretch.

“Turning for home, I put him in the clear, and he ran his race, but the other ones kept going,” Hernandez said. “He ran a little flat in the stretch.”
Santulli said he’s not sure where Force the Pass will run next, but he did say, “I think he can beat older horses.”