Belmont roundup: Regal Glory sparkles in Just A Game

Trainer Chad Brown had three chances to win a record-extending fifth Just a Game (G1) as he sent out a trio of Peter Brant-owned mares in the one-mile turf test for older fillies and mares named for the mare Brant campaigned to Champion Grass Mare honors in 1980.

European import Speak of the Devil was the favorite to visit the winner’s circle on Saturday, but it was the evergreen 6-year-old Regal Glory who rose to the occasion in the $500,000 affair over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park.

“Many years ago, I campaigned Just a Game and she was a great mare who put a large string of victories together and was a great champion,” said Brant. “To have this race named after her is a great pleasure and now to win the race is very, very special.”

Brown shared Brant’s sentiments about the importance of winning a Just a Game together. 

“The first day I met him and I saw the trophy at his house and it was from Just a Game - it was the first thing I noticed,” said Brown. “We had a conversation about it, and I said this is the one race I’m going to win for you one day. We got to talking about it this week. It’s meant a lot to him, this race.”

Regal Glory has proven to her connections that they made the right decision to keep her in training this year as she picked up her second Grade 1 in three perfect starts this year that began with a resounding performance in the Grade 3 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf in January at Gulfstream Park.

She followed with a sparkling performance in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley in April at Keeneland ahead of the Just a Game.

“She was headed to the breeding shed at the end of last year,” said Brown. “I told Mr. Brant, ‘There’s this Pegasus race, let’s just send her down to Florida, run her, then breed her.’ At first, it was my idea to run her there and then breed her. But then when she won, it was his idea to keep going.”

Regal Glory was expertly piloted by regular rider Jose Ortiz from post 2 and patiently allowed longshot Leggs Galore take command under Ricardo Gonzalez from the inside post with stablemate In Italian with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up pressing to her outside.

Speak of the Devil’s chances were compromised at the start when she missed the break under returning rider Flavien Prat and trailed in last-of-5 as Leggs Galore set scorching fractions of 22.25 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.53 for the half-mile over the firm turf.

Leggs Galore and In Italian continued to duel five lengths in front of Regal Glory entering the turn before the pacesetter came under a ride from Gonzalez. In Italian quickly took over with urging from Ortiz, Jr., but was soon met with a challenge from Regal Glory, who loomed to her outside and made up ground with large strides down the center of the racetrack.

Ortiz gave a strong ride to Regal Glory and had plenty of horse under him to make the lead and hold off a late rally from Wakanaka with Joel Rosario in the irons as they overtook second from In Italian in the final strides.

Regal Glory stopped the clock in 1:32 flat, just .77 seconds off the track record set by Oscar Performance in 2018. Wakanaka finished another 3 1/2 lengths back with In Italian checking in 1 1/4 lengths behind her. 

Speak of the Devil and Leggs Galore completed the order of finish.

Brown said there was no doubt in his mind Regal Glory would handle her first start around one turn this year.

“I was never concerned,” said Brown. “I knew she likes Belmont and she’s a versatile horse, especially when there’s some pace in front of her.”

Brown attributes Regal Glory’s continuous good form to her team and owner. 

“My team working with her, her maturity; Mr. Brant making the call to race her this year was a brilliant move,” Brown said. “It was really one of those situations where she’s in her prime right now and some horses catch their peak window at different ages. For this horse, it’s been at age 6.”

Ortiz, who has been aboard the bay mare for the past eight starts prior to the Just a Game, said he is grateful for the opportunity to ride her.

“She means a lot to me. It’s very nice to ride a mare like this and she’s getting better with age, but all the credit goes to Peter and Chad for keeping her in training,” Ortiz said. “They could have bred her. She was supposed to go to Into Mischief and they waited one more year and it’s paid off.

“I knew the one-horse was going to go to the lead but she ran very good,” Ortiz added. “I’m very happy.”

A Kentucky-bred daughter of Animal Kingdom, Regal Glory announced her presence in the female turf division with a win in the 2019 Grade 3 Lake George at Saratoga Race Course ahead of another Saratoga stakes coup in the Grade 2 Lake Placid. She picked up two more stakes wins in the 2020 in the Plenty of Grace at Aqueduct and the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf.

Last year, she finished fourth in this event before returning to Saratoga to take the Fasig-Tipton De La Rose. Regal Glory closed out her 2021 campaign with a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Matriarch, which began a four-race winning streak that includes her three victories this year. 

Brown said a return to Saratoga is likely for Regal Glory with the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave against males on August 13 as the main objective.

Bred by Paul P. Pompa, Regal Glory returned $4.80 for a $2 win wager and banked $275,000 for her winning effort. She extended her record to 19-12-4-0 with total purse earnings of $2,111,009.

Joel Rosario praised Wakanaka for her determination down the lane.

"She ran well. She was coming and coming, but the winner was too tough. She ran her race and did everything I asked her to do. Too bad we couldn’t get to the winner. She ran too good.”

Barry Irwin, founder of Team Valor International and co-owner of Wakanaka, said he was pleased with the effort.

“Things went according to plan and Joel gave her the ride we’ve been looking for. She is better around one turn,” Irwin said.

Fearless stretches out to capture Brooklyn

Repole Stable’s Fearless already proved he could best high-caliber competition. But the 6-year-old Ghostzapper gelding emphatically answered the outstanding question on his ability to thrive over longer distances, outkicking Warrant by 2 3/4 lengths to win Saturday’s marathon 12-furlong Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn for older horses on Belmont Stakes Day at Belmont Park.

Fearless, who won a pair of graded stakes in his 2021 campaign with scores in the Harlan’s Holiday (G3) and the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), started 2022 with consecutive runner-up efforts going one mile in graded stakes at Gulfstream Park for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Fearless stretched out to 1 1/8 miles and won a Grade 3 contest named for his sire on April 2 at Gulfstream before running second to Last Samurai just 21 days later at in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. That encouraged Pletcher to stretch out the Kentucky bred to 1 1/2 miles for the first time in the 133rd edition of the Brooklyn, where Fearless was content to track the pace in breaking from outermost post seven under jockey Luis Saez.

First Constitution led the field through fractions of 24.94 seconds for the quarter-mile, 50.06 for the half, three-quarters in 1:15.15 and a mile in 1:39.41 on the fast main track. Saez, who had positioned Fearless up to third position, put his charge on near-equal terms with Warrant and 7-5 favorite Lone Rock when turning for home. From the outside, Fearless dueled a charging Lone Rock and had plenty in reserve to the finish, outkicking Warrant in completing the course in a 2:30.45 final time.

Warrant fended off Lone Rock, winner of last year’s Brooklyn, by a neck for second while the Pletcher-trained Portos and First Constitution finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Max Player and Locally Owned completed the order of finish.

“We anticipated he’d handle the distance. Of course, you never know until you try it, but he’s always given us that impression that he would keep grinding it out,” said Pletcher, who won the Brooklyn for the fifth time overall and second in the last three runnings following Marconi’s win in 2019 [the race was not contested in 2020]. “The track appears to be inside-speed favoring, but they’ve only run three dirt races all around one turn, so you don’t want to get ahead of yourself. We drew post 7 with Fearless and we wanted to be in good tactical position and sacrificed some ground to do so.”

Pletcher said the 1 3/4-mile $200,000 Birdstone on July 28 at Saratoga Race Course could be a possible next stop if the Grade 2 $400,000 Suburban going 1 1/4 miles on July 9 at Belmont comes up too soon.

“Maybe,” Pletcher said about the Birdstone. “I think he’s versatile enough he can back up to a mile and an eighth or go further. The Suburban could be in play.”

The Brooklyn marked the seventh consecutive race Fearless has finished first or second as he improved his career ledger to 16: 7-6-1.

“The horse can go six furlongs to a mile and a half,” winning owner Mike Repole said. “He’s a gelding, so as long as he’s healthy he’s going to be around awhile. He’s a fun horse to own. What we do is we look at all our horses, put them in their spots, and whatever spots are leftover, we throw Fearless in there and he fits in competitively.”

Off at 7-2, Fearless returned $9.30 on a $2 win wager. He earned millionaire status with the victory, increasing his bankroll to $1.12 million. 

“That was the plan to try to sit third behind the speed and he ran his race and got the job done. He’s way better going longer. We always thought he would like more distance. Today was perfect and he kept running.”

Warrant moved to 11: 3-5-2 for trainer Brad Cox, atoning for his only career off-the-board effort last out in the Ben Ali (G3) in April at Keeneland with runner-up honors in his Belmont debut.

"He ran good. I’m proud of him. Just second-best today,” Cox said. “It was new territory for him in regard to a mile and a half. It was an unknown, but I thought he responded well and stayed on. I think the horse that finished in front of him kind of got the jump on him, but he stayed on. It was a good effort.”

Lone Rock, who entered with wins in four of his last five starts for trainer Robertino Diodoro, finished in the money for the 15th time in his last 16 starts.

“He had a perfect trip, no excuses,” said Lone Rock jockey Ramon Vazquez. “The other horse [Fearless] made a good impression today and my horse responded well, but the other horse had a little bit more.”

Casa Creed goes back-to-back in the Jaipur

Experiencing no ill effects from his trip to the Middle East earlier this year, Casa Creed got clear with just enough time in the stretch of the Grade 1, $400,000 Jaipur on Saturday at Belmont Park to get up to win the race for the second straight year for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and owners LRE Racing and JEH Racing Stable.

The 38th running of the Jaipur for 3-year-olds and up was contested at six furlongs on the Widener turf course, where Casa Creed has found a home in one-turn events. Although he began his career primarily as a turf miler, the slight turnback in distance has really agreed with the son of Jimmy Creed, who is now 3-for-6 in turf sprints and undefeated at Belmont in such races.

“It’s great to get back-to-back wins in the Jaipur with him,” said Mott. “He’s a neat horse. He’s a real warrior who’s gotten better with age. We finally found out what he wants to do. He wants to run in the Jaipur every year.”

In victory, Casa Creed secured a "Win and You're In" berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint going 5 1/2-furlongs in November at Keeneland.

Mott said the abbreviated distance at Keeneland may be too short for him, but that a start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave on August 13 at Saratoga Race Course, which offers a "Win and You’re In" berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, could be in the cards.

"He really needs more than five, five and a half furlongs," Mott said. "Six and seven is better, so we’ll see what’s next for him [at Saratoga]."

Casa Creed also won the Elusive Quality on the Belmont turf before taking last year’s Jaipur, but he hadn’t won since that effort after a tough-luck fifth in the Grade 3 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs and being stretched in distance for a pair of starts in the second half of his 2021 campaign.

The bay horse kicked off 2022 with a near miss in the Group 3 Turf Sprint Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Saudi Arabia, and again acquitted himself well in Dubai with a solid fifth-place finish in the Group 3 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan. While a Dubai “bounce” might have been expected from him in the Jaipur, Casa Creed was given plenty of time to recuperate by his connections and nothing on track suggested he was anything deleterious from his overseas excursion.

Breaking from post 4 with Luis Saez in the irons, Casa Creed left the gate smoothly and flashed a bit more early speed than the late-running horse is accustomed to showing as he took up position in midpack behind True Valour, who led the field through fractions of 22.36 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.94 for the half over the firm going with race-favorite Arrest Me Red perched just to his outside.

As True Valour and Arrest Me Red took off for home still in front, Casa Creed cut the corner beautifully into the stretch and quickly found himself on the heels of the pacesetters. Remaining glued to the rail in upper stretch, Saez made a decisive move to angle his horse to their outside at the eighth pole, which proved to be a winning one as now with ample clearance, Casa Creed mowed down the leaders to prevail by a half-length over Arrest Me Red in a final time of 1:07.44.

“This horse is a pretty nice horse, he can really run. He just has to have the right trip,” said Saez. “Today, we had a good trip. When he ran in Saudi Arabia, the track was soft. It didn’t help him that much but he still ran well and finished second a neck. I’m pretty happy for the trainer and owner especially, they’re like family so I’m blessed to be a part.

“I had a little room on the rail but it was tricky because the favorite was outside. I just went to the best path and went to the outside and he got the job done,” Saez added.

Bred in Kentucky by Silver Springs Stud, Casa Creed paid $10.40 on a $2 win wager and padded his sizable bankroll of $1.2 million with another $220,000 in purse earnings.

Trained by turf-sprint guru Wesley Ward, Arrest Me Red delivered another strong performance in defeat. The 4-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt had won 4-of-5 turf-sprint tries entering the Jaipur, all of which came since Ward took over his training duties as a sophomore in 2021.

“He ran his race, just got beat on the squares,” said Ward. “He did everything right, and Irad rode a beautiful race.” 

Another reformed turf router like the winner, True Valour continued his remarkable recovery as an 8-year-old to finish third, just a half-length behind Arrest Me Red. The son of Kodiac, trained by Graham Motion for Larry Johnson, was away from the races for more than a year before he returned to take the King Leatherbury at Laurel Park on April 23.

“He ran awesome. He's such a trier,” said Motion. “I was so impressed with how he dug in with them at the top of the stretch. He’s not too bad for an 8-year-old. He loves it. He’s such a cool horse.”

The lone mare in the race, Change of Control, finished fourth, two lengths behind True Valour. Whatmakessammyrun checked in fifth and was followed home by Greyes Creek, Gregorian Chant, Smokin’ Jay, Omaha City, Gear Jockey, Scuttlebuzz, Filo Di Arianna and Chasing Artie.