Sycamore Stakes: Lambeth lands in winner’s circle after patient ride by Jose Ortiz

Give Lambeth 1 1/2 miles of racetrack, be it turf or dirt, and the 5-year-old becomes a stakes horse.

Lambeth won his first stakes in April 2025 when he captured the Temperance Hill, a 1 1/2-mile dirt race at Oaklawn Park, and on Friday at Keeneland he won his second, the Sycamore, a 1 1/2-mile grass race.

Jockey Jose Ortiz, aided immeasurably by the live mount beneath him, put on a clinic, guiding Lambeth to a one-length victory over Limited Liability. Vote No finished third, another 2 1/2 lengths back, with Desvio fourth in a fast-paced race ruled by closers.

Bred and initially raced by Juddmonte Farms, Lambeth is a son of the late Arrogate and the Tapit mare South Bank. He won 2 of 5 starts for trainer Bill Mott before being sold at a digital auction in October 2024, since campaigning for Carl Moore Management and trainer Joe Sharp. Sharp added turf racing to Lambeth’s repertoire in June 2025, and since returning in May from a seven-month layoff, Lambeth has been a full-time grass horse. Lambeth was coming off a second-place finish in the 2 1/16-mile Nashville Gold Cup and on Friday ran about as well as he ever has.

Lambeth drew in from the also-eligible list and thus was saddled with a bad draw, post 12; the three-turn Sycamore starts near the end of the backstretch, a very short run to the clubhouse bend. It meant dropping out near the tail of the field, but Ortiz had Lambeth in the No. 2 path early on the first turn.

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The field’s tail was the place to be with the riders in the leading group of three not really using their heads. Layabout, pursued by Rothschild and English Actor, went the first of their six quarter-miles in a fast 23.61 seconds and still somehow quickened the pace in the second quarter, the opening half an intemperate 46.88. In related news, the three early leaders wound up the last three of 12 across the wire.

Heaven only knows what the jockey aboard Goldeneye had in mind as he pulled his mount wide from midpack in the backstretch and swooped up to take a lead before the third turn. Tiz Dashing, the 5-2 second choice, probably raced too close to the pace to properly see out his first try over 1 1/2 miles, racing from fourth, and eventually getting blocked behind rivals in upper stretch. Favored Just a Touch also ran in the second flight and got caught wide around the third turn.

Lambeth dropped his head and was putty in Ortiz’s hands before a furlong had been run, and Ortiz was able to do whatever he wanted with his mount. His mount relaxed and in the bridle, Ortiz waited more patiently than any of the other jockeys, getting shuffled back to second-last into the third turn, whereupon Ortiz steered outside to pick up live cover. Lambeth followed Limited Liability into the homestretch, tackled him at the furlong grounds, and pressed past for the second stakes score of his career.

Lambeth ran 1 1/2 miles on a firm course in 2:28.08 and paid $16.98 as the fourth choice, showing that distance, rather than racing surface, holds the key to his greatest success.

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