Instilled Regard gets up late to win Grade 1 Manhattan

Instilled Regard uncorked a furious rally in the final furlong under Irad Ortiz Jr. to just get up in the final strides and win the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap at Belmont Park on Saturday.

Instilled Regard, who was entering off a win in the June 6 Fort Marcy (G2) at Belmont Park, had just two horses beaten in the early going as Cross Border took the field through fractions of :24.56, :50.46 and 1:15.93, with Channel Maker and slight 2-1 favorite Rock Emperor stalking the pace.

As the field turned into the stretch, Instilled Regard now found himself at the back of the pack as Ortiz waited for room behind a wall of horses. Up front, Channel Maker managed to overtake Cross Border in mid-stretch for the lead, but he was promptly headed by Rockemperor under John Velasquez.

Rockemperor looked like a potential winner with 100 yards to run, but spurting through between horses came Instilled Regard. He collared stablemate Rockemperor in the shadow of the wire to prevail by about a neck on the wire, providing trainer Chad Brown with a sixth win in the Manhattan.

"He does everything you want,” Ortiz Jr. said after the race. “I like that, I can use him to get in position and then I just put the hands down, make him come back to me, he come back to me so well and he saved all the energy until the end when I asked him for it.”

Instilled Regard paid $6.30 and was followed across the line by Sadler's Joy and Channel Maker.

"He had a great post and Irad took advantage of it," Brown said of Instilled Regard. "It was another great ride by Irad, he's so good. He definitely gets along with this horse. He wants to get to know the horses and really works together with us on improving them."

Brown's previous Manhattan wins came in 2012, 2014, 2015-16 and 2019.

"It's a testament to my team," Brown said of the Manhattan success. "Through the years a lot of different horses have passed through our hands but much of my same team is intact and they've been working with all these horses and all the credit goes to them."

By Arch, Instilled Regard improves his record to 18: 5-3-4 while becoming racing's newest millionaire. He was purchased by Larry Best's OXO Equine for $1,050,000 at last year's OBS March 2-year-olds in training sale.