True Valour tops longshot exacta in City of Hope Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – True Valour missed the spring and summer while recovering from a minor injury diagnosed after a win the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita in February.

In his comeback on Saturday, True Valour won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita, a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Mile here on Nov. 2.

One of the keys to the win was a well-timed ride by jockey Drayden Van Dyke, who was aboard for the first time. Van Dyke and trainer Simon Callaghan had a specific strategy of waiting to the stretch before launching a rally with True Valour.

True Valour ($35.80) closed from fifth in the final quarter-mile to edge 43-1 Restrainedvengence, the longest shot in a field of 11. Prince Earl, the 5-2 favorite, finished third, beaten a head and a nose.

Van Dyke said Prince Earl’s position just behind the leaders entering the stretch played a pivotal role in True Valour’s win.

“I had a rail trip I could have opted for,” Van Dyke said. “I chose to follow Prince Earl and rally around him. That turned out to be the winning move.”

True Valour ran a mile on turf in 1:32.82. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

The first eight runners were separated by about 1 1/2 lengths. Kingly, a 21-1 outsider and the only 3-year-old in the field, set the pace to the final furlong and finished fourth, beaten a neck. Big Score was fifth, followed by Catapult, Andesh, Synchrony, Ohio, Bolo, and River Boyne.

Van Dyke, who won the Grade 3 LA Woman Stakes for fillies and mares on Lady Ninja earlier in the day, had worked True Valour in recent weeks.

“Simon said he’s got a quarter-mile run and that he’s a funny horse,” Van Dyke. “When he makes the front, he’ll pull himself up.”

Restrainedvengence, who won the 2018 Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar, ran his best race in a graded stakes to just miss.

“He ran a big race,” jockey Martin Garcia said. “It was tough competition.”

True Valour, 5, races for Qatar Racing and has won 5 of 19 starts and earned $355,112. An Irish-bred by Kodiac, True Valour won the Group 3 Ballycorus Stakes at seven furlongs on turf at Leopardstown, Ireland, in July 2018 in his final start in Europe.

True Valour was beaten in his first three starts for Callaghan before the breakthrough win in the Thunder Road. True Valour was diagnosed with bone bruising in the weeks following that race, resulting in a 60-day rest.