Belmont roundup: Bella Sofia blooms in Bed o’ Roses

Heavy favorite and Grade 1-winner Bella Sofia made every pole a victorious one as she defeated a compact but competitive field in the 65th running of Friday’s Grade 2 $300,000 Bed o’ Roses at Belmont Park.

Trained by Rudy Rodriguez and owned by the partnership of Michael Imperio, Medallion Racing, Sofia Soares, Vincent Scuderi and Parkland Thoroughbreds, Bella Sofia won her second straight graded-stakes race and the fourth in her last five outings.

The 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Awesome Patriot broke alertly under Luis Saez and used her trademark blistering speed to capture this seven-furlong fixture for filly and mare sprinters aged 4 and older during the second day of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Bella Sofia dictated the pace as the 3-5 favorite and set sprite fractions of 23:62 seconds, 46:18 and 1:09.36 on a fast main track before crossing the wire in 1:21.36.

Though Bella Sofia had opened a comfortable lead down the lane, she had to dig in late under strong left-handed urging by Saez to hold off a fast closing Obligatory and Jose Ortiz.  

“She’s pretty quick. Today, we just let her be happy,” said Saez, who has been in the irons for seven of Bella Sofia’s eight career starts. “She ran from there pretty quick and was comfortable. I was a little worried about [Obligatory]. I know she’s coming flying at the end, but I had plenty of horse. That was easy for her. She finished like nothing. She came back like she didn’t race. A lot of credit to Rudy. Last time, she was a little tired at the end off a layoff, but today, she won easy.”

Bella Sofia, who won the Vagrancy (G3) on May 14 in her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last November, was victorious by a half-length and 9-5 shot Obligatory finished another 10 1/2 lengths in front of 3-1 choice Glass Ceiling. Easy to Bless completed the field, another 8 3/4 lengths back.  

“When she broke very clean, and Luis went 23 [for the first quarter-mile], I said ‘OK, now we’re good.’ Most of her races she finishes in 11 and change, so it’s going to take a really good horse to get her,” Rodriguez said. “She looks like she got a little tired in the end and didn’t switch leads. I know in the back of my mind we ran her back quickly, but she’s just so special.”

Ortiz said he thinks that Obligatory, a Juddmonte Farms-homebred trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, is special as well.

“I was expecting somebody to put the pressure on the other horse [Bella Sofia] and nobody did,” Ortiz said. “Nothing against the other filly, but I think my horse is better. She just beat me because of the circumstances of the race. I’m very happy with the way my horse ran. When I asked her, she was there for me.”

Mott said he was hoping a pace battle would develop for his last out deep-closing winner of the Derby City Distaff (G1) on May 7 at Churchill Downs.

“We ran well considering the pace scenario,” Mott said. “Our filly laid closer and still finished. We were hoping somebody would try to go with the other one [Bella Sofia], but nobody did."

Mott said Obligatory could target the $500,000 Ballerina (G1) on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course, which offers a "Win and You're In" berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November at Keeneland.

As for Bella Sofia, Rodriguez will take his time mapping her future races.

“I’m just going to enjoy this one right now,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a couple races in the program for her. I just want to see how she comes back. She’s once in a lifetime and a dream come true.”

Bella Sofia, who took the Test (G1) last August at Saratoga, returned $3.50 for a $2 wager. She improved her bankroll to $840,100 with her share of the purse and upped her record to 8-6-1-0.  

Caravel exerts class in the Grade 3 Intercontinental

Trainer Christophe Clement’s Lady Edith put in a strong run in the stretch, appearing at points as though she were destined for victory before flattening out late and settling for fourth, a head behind Jouster. The pace-pressing Illegal Smile checked in fifth, a neck ahead of Assertive Style, who was followed home by Tobys Heart, Miss J McKay, Flower Point, Miss Majorette and Nevisian Sunrise.

Loft takes it to another level in G2 Belmont Gold Cup

Friday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup at Belmont Park was won for the fifth consecutive edition by an invading European and second by a German-based horse when Ostermann Manfred’s Loft raised the roof and lowered the course record in the two-mile test of stamina.

The Marcel Weiss trainee won by a widening 3 1/4 lengths over Canadian classic winner British Royalty, crossing the wire in a time of 3:16.68 over the firm Widener turf course.

Ridden by five-time German champion jockey Andrasch Starke, substituting for Rene Piechulek whose visa troubles prohibited him from coming stateside, the bay charge gave his conditioner a second significant international success of the past year, having shocked the racing world with another son of Adlerflug, 72-1 Torquator Tasso, in France’s 2021 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Ridden patiently from post one, the bay 4-year-old gelding settled in seventh of eight through healthy early fractions of a half-mile in 49.56, six furlongs in 1:13.39, and one mile in 1:37.96 set by 2-1 favorite Abaan and Luis Saez, flanked by UK-based 3-1 third choice Outbox and Hollie Doyle.

Starke did not panic entering the backstretch for the second time of the three-turn affair and was even more unbothered when his mount shifted back to last entering the far turn through 12 furlongs in 2:28.22, as British Royalty and Box N Score made their moves to his inside and outside and Abaan began to shrug off Outbox at the fore.

Waiting until inside the three-furlong-pole to launch his bid, Loft stormed past all but two horses—a driving British Royalty and fading Abaan—before pulling clear once he changed his leads. The victory was his third career triumph from 11 starts and improved his career bankroll to $331,675.

“Amazing [performance],” Weiss said. “If we have the chance, we will come back."

Starke said a patient trip was key.

“I saw there was a lot of space and the front horses were already under pressure,” Starke said. “I didn’t want to go so wide, but I still waited during the last turn and moved to the outside. He was making up ground well. There was a lot of pace during the race and I trusted my horse,” he continued. “I didn’t want to get in a hurry. I was traveling well around the bend. I had a horse in front of me and I had to shift out. He made no consequences and he ran a good race.”

British Royalty, with Joel Rosario up, and Outbox had poor adjacent starts, with the former striking the gate and forcing the latter out while in a tangle.

“I thought I was going to be a little bit closer but he looked like he put himself further back,” Rosario said. “Then he came with a run after that horse got the jump on me before turning for home. I thought for a second we were going to come and get it, but he kept going. He ran good. A two-mile race is an unusual distance, so it's always a concern. But he did good and he hung in there. It looked like he had no problem with it."

Strong Tide, who stalked throughout and gamely chased home the top two under Dylan Davis, was third a nose astern British Royalty. Cibolian, Abaan, Box N Score, Outbox and Novo Sol completed the order of finish.

“He ran great,” Davis said. “I thought he had a great chance. I know he was 20-1 but he had a really tough trip last time [in the Louisville (G3)] and he was better than that race. It’s a firmer course now and he really wanted to be comfortable and he switched off for me. I saved all the ground and I got excited turning for home. He felt great. Once he started taking command at the three-eighths pole, I just wanted him to keep his stride going, so I started getting into him turning for home. I tried to hold on for second.”

Next races are undetermined for the winner, who had exited a professional victory in Hoppegarten’s Group 2 Oleander-Rennen, and appears a staying star on the rise.