Ky. Downs roundup: Bellum Justum poaches Nashville Derby

One of Adrian Beaumont’s jobs with the International Racing Bureau is to recruit international horses to run at Kentucky Downs.

Beaumont, who is based in England, did his job. A horse based in Great Britain is taking home the biggest prize the track has to offer.

Ireland-bred Bellum Justum and star jockey Frankie Dettori won the Grade 3, $2,337,160 Nashville Derby Invitational by 2 1/4 lengths on Saturday. The Nashville, worth a base of $1.9 million and as much as $3.1 million if no one but Kentucky horses finished in the money, was the third win on the card for Dettori. He was riding the Kentucky Downs meet for the first time.

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Bellum Justum’s win over the 1 5/16 miles improved his record to 9: 3-2-1 on the grass.

“I was telling people he was going to win, and I was right,” Beaumont said. “This is going to be a massive win back home. Hopefully it will open the floodgates for more coming here next year with horses as good as this. Or better.”

Beaumont said he and trainer Andrew Balding discussed the possibility of going to Kentucky Downs last month. Balding told Beaumont if Bellum Justum ran well in the Gordon Stakes (G3), the trip across the pond would be considered.

He finished second by a neck. The bags were packed.

Pippa Tuthill, assistant racing manager to King Power Racing which owns Bellum Justum, said her team was on board, too. Tuthill was scheduled to fly back to England Saturday night.

“They made the decision, and it was the right decision,” Tuthill said. “It was just great to see him run so well. He was traveling very nicely, and we were hoping nothing was going to surprise us and come from off the pace and go past. Frankie gave him a fantastic ride.”

Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, Dettori and Bellum Justum took control in mid-stretch and then drew off to win comfortably.

Dettori said the son of Sea the Stars did not have the best of beginnings.

“He absolutely flubbed the start,” he said. “I was way too far back but lucky that (jockey) Jamie (Spencer on Navy Seal) was so fast. On this track on the back straight I was able to make a good improvement to get a slot, because I knew he would stay very well.”

Bred by Rabbah Bloodstock, Bellum Justum took home $1,054,310 from the race formerly known as the Dueling Grounds Derby. He was saddled by Balding’s assistant Maddy O’Meara, who has been with the horse since he arrived in the U.S. last Friday.

“She has done a great job with him,” Beaumont said.

Carson’s Run, the sentimental choice in the field of 12, rallied down the stretch to finish second, a nose ahead of Rothschild and Hall of Famer John Velázquez.

Trained by Christophe Clément and owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey, Carson’s Run is named after Carson Yost, the son of Wade Yost, a classmate of West Point Thoroughbreds founder and president Terry Finley.

Carson Yost suffers from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a condition that affects many parts of the body. Wade Yost made the trip to Kentucky Downs from his home near Seattle to watch the horse run.

“It’s all good. We were just second-best,” Finley said. “We had a perfect trip, and (Joel Rosario) rode him as well as a rider could ride him. I would tell the stakes coordinator to stop going to Ireland and Europe, please.”

Miguel Clément, son and assistant trainer to Christophe Clément, had no problems with the way Carson’s Run ran. The horse was coming back on short rest, having won the Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) on Aug. 11.

“He is a very good horse,” Clément said. “He doesn’t miss a beat. You can be tough with him, and he takes it. He nearly pulled off a $3 million race with short rest.”

“It looked for a second that we were going to come with a run on the inside, but the winner was too tough today,” Rosario said. “We’ll take second.”

Rothschild, off at nearly 30-1, was three-quarters of a length in front of Abrumar and Édgard Zayas, who was fourth.

“The horse ran out of his skin,” said Tom Ryan of SF Racing, which owns the colt with several partners. “He beat some good horses in there. The important thing is he showed us he is a good horse.”

Rothschild and Abrumar were most prominent in the early stages of the race, but it was Bellum Justum who took control.

Bellum Justum completed the course in 2:07.28 and paid $6.44, $3.84 and $3.28.

After Abrumar, the complete order of finish was Navy Seal, Stromberg, Lagynos, Cameo Performance, Nomos, El Matador, Sea The Thunder and Cugino.

Walkathon runs well in Ladies Turf

Five-year-old mare Walkathon and her family have been very good to owner-breeder Whitham Thoroughbreds and trainer Ian Wilkes. At Kentucky Downs, Walkathon kept on giving.

The bay mare led all the way to win her third straight stakes with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., cruising to a three-length victory over Sacred Wish in the capacity field of 12 fillies and mares for the $1,494,840 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G2).

“She ran super,” Wilkes said. “This was the race we were aiming for. We ran her at Churchill (in the $175,000 Anchorage) and then at Ellis (in the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf) with this in mind. She put her best step forward today, which was super.”

Walkathon led through fractions of 23.62, 46.40 and 1:09.96. The final time was a brisk 1:33.76. Second- and third-place finishers Sacred Wish and Evvie Jets, separated by three-quarters of a length at the finish, were closest to Walkathon throughout the race. Fourth-place finisher Sparkle Blue came from well off the pace to complete the race another 2 1/4 lengths back.

“The good thing is the track firmed up,” Wilkes said. “She loves to be on top of the ground. The firmer the better. She got into a good rhythm with Brian. He didn’t ask her until into the straight. I felt good, because he hadn’t asked her and she was in a nice rhythm.”

Walkathon is 18: 7-3-1, picking up $878,940 to more than double her earnings to $1,609,150. She paid $19.90 to win.

Walkabout, Walkathon’s mom, was a Grade 3 winner who was a very nice racehorse around the Midwest, knocking out almost $250,000. She traces to the Whithams’ great champion Bayakoa and multiple Grade 1 winner Affluent, both trained by Hall of Famer Ron McAnally, along with Fort Larned, the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner trained by Wilkes. 

“If I’ve got it right, she’s out of Walkabout, who’s out of Arlucea, which makes her (Walkabout) a half-sister to Fort Larned,” Wilkes said. “So she goes back to a really good family.”

As an aside, Fort Larned won a Kentucky Downs allowance race in 2011 before Wilkes put him on dirt.

“I don’t like to blow my own tune, but that was the year I was leading trainer here,” he said, adding, “I had two wins.”

Ag Bullet goes gate to wire in Ladies Turf Sprint

Ag Bullet led all the way to take the $1,378,260 Ladies Turf Sprint (G2) by 5 1/2 lengths over favored Dontlookbackatall on Saturday at Kentucky Downs.

If not quite a speeding bullet, she was fast enough to set the course record of 1:14.19 for 6 1/2 furlongs.

“I didn’t expect her to run that good,” winning trainer Richard Baltas said. “I knew that she was training lights out. Her last race was the same thing. The first day she galloped over the track, my rider said she just loves it, absolutely skipping over the track. I had a hard time putting the saddle on her. She’s just got that fire inside of her. You just have to keep her quiet, and she was going to do the rest.”

The victory gave California-based jockey Umberto Rispoli a seven-figure victory on his 36th birthday. 

“She’s absolutely fast,” Rispoli said. “I mean she’s a kind of versatile filly. Today there was absolutely no chance at all to grab a step back and sit behind. She broke well, which sometimes she doesn’t. She’s very special. It worked out really well. We went to the lead. She was happy all the way, and I was happy to let her run.”

Ag Bullet threw down splits of 22.59 and 45.20 en route to a final time of 1:14.19. That clipped the old standard of 1:14.27 set by County Final last year. Ocean Club rallied from last to take third, two lengths behind Dontlookbackatall, followed in fourth by long shot Bling.

A gray daughter of  Twirling Candy, 4-year-old Ag Bullet is now 6-for-6 on firm turf. Her only defeat came on a Churchill Downs course rated good in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2), where she had the early lead and faded to ninth. She rebounded to win Del Mar’s restricted Osunitas Stakes in her last start.