Regally-bred Believe in Royalty targets Springboard Mile
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Trainer Larry Jones will be sending in some pedigree power for the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.
Jones said Believe in Royalty, a son of Tapit and Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can, is scheduled to make his stakes debut in the Dec. 17 race. It will be the first time the Springboard Mile offers eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby.
Believe in Royalty has won 2 of 3 starts, with his most recent effort a 3 3/4-length victory in a first-level allowance at a mile Nov. 19 at Laurel. It was Believe in Royalty’s second consecutive win following a maiden special weight victory at the same distance Oct. 9 at Laurel.
Jones said there were a handful of reasons to target the Springboard Mile.
“We’ve gone out there a few times, and the track has been very kind to our horses,” he said. “And the timing is really good. He just got his second win at Laurel. We’ve got him at Fair Grounds now.”
Jones said the Springboard date also dovetails nicely with the Fair Grounds series for 3-year-olds, which launches Jan. 13 with the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte.
Believe in Royalty races for his breeder, Brereton Jones, as well as Robert C. Baker and William Mack. Believe You Can was a homebred for Brereton Jones who overall won 8 of 14 starts and $1.2 million, chief among her victories the 2012 running of the Kentucky Oaks. Larry Jones trained Believe You Can.
“He’s her first foal,” Larry Jones said of Believe in Royalty. “He got in a little trouble his first race, was only beat a [length], then came back and won his next two. We think we have a nice horse.”
Ramon Vazquez, who leads the standings at Remington, has the mount in the Springboard Mile.
“He probably rode his first race in the U.S. for me at Delaware Park,” Jones said of the rider, who launched his career in his native Puerto Rico.
Believe in Royalty is one of a handful of promising 2-year-olds Jones has in the barn. Prince Lucky won the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery in hand Saturday at Parx Racing, while Kowboy Karma was a stakes winner in August at Delaware and has since run fourth in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont.
The draw for the Springboard Mile is Tuesday, Dec. 12.
