Roja denies stablemate Italian Soiree in Intercontinental
Roja set a blistering pace and kept on going to capture Thursday's Grade 2, $250,000 Intercontinental, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for older fillies and mares on the second day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
Trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., the 4-year-old Karakontie bay completed a natural hat trick that began with a 3 1/2-length score in the 5 1/2-furlong Blue Sparkler in July to close out her sophomore season at Monmouth Park, followed by a one-length victory in a five-furlong optional-claiming race April 29 at Churchill Downs.
Motion said he was thrilled with the dynamic 1 1/4-length score by Roja over her rallying stablemate Italian Soiree.
"I'll tell you, I had quite a bit of confidence in this filly," Motion said. "I felt they probably wouldn't get to her. I was feeling pretty good when they turned for home. I wasn't sure they were going to get to her. And then I saw Italian Soiree coming, but I felt like it was getting too late for her."
Roja broke alertly from the outermost post 10 and showed the way through an opening quarter-mile of 21.35 seconds over the firm footing. The previously undefeated Gratefully, who stumbled badly at the break, tracked from second, with In Our Time saving ground in third to the inside of the favored Shoot It True.
"She cleared everyone in the first few jumps," Ortiz said of the break from the outside. "She broke like a shot. She did that last time, too. She broke sharp again. I was expecting to let her break and then see if anyone goes ahead of her, but nobody did because she broke like a shot out of there. After that I just tried to get her to relax, to have something at the end. She was still going quick. She still quickened so that was nice."
Shoot It True made an outside bid through the turn, but Roja kept rolling as she reached the half-mile in 43.13 seconds and opened up to lead by 2 1/2 lengths at the stretch call. Shoot It True chased in vain, but there was no reeling in the speedy Roja, who surged through the wire a 1 1/4-length winner in a final time of 1:00.44.
Italian Soiree, ridden by Dylan Davis, closed from as far back as sixth to earn place honors by a nose over Shoot It True, with Love Cervere, In Our Time, Creed's Gold, Time to Dazzle, Ready to Jam and Gratefully rounding out the order of finish. Twirling Queen and main-track-only entrant Bam's Bliss Kiss were scratched.
Italian Soiree won the Coronation Cup (G3) at Saratoga last summer for conditioner John Terranova and looked to make amends for an off-the-board effort last out in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs. Motion said the 4-year-old Uncle Mo bay ran back to her winning effort sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs in her seasonal debut in April at Laurel Park.
"I'm tickled with both of them. They've really both done very well," Motion said. "Italian Soiree, I wanted to get her back on track and I thought this was a big step, but I thought she belonged off her first race (this year)."
"Irad (Ortiz Jr.) just loves this filly (Roja)," Motion continued. "He was so high on her after she won at Churchill. She's so quick. Irad says she's like a quarter horse she's so quick. I didn't tell (Irad) anything. When you have Irad, you don't really need to. All he tells me is how much he likes her."
Looking ahead, Motion pointed Roja toward the fall. "Irad said Breeders' Cup, so if he says that I'm fine with that," he said.
Davis thought his filly might have wanted another half-furlong.
"Great performance. She ran well," Davis said of Italian Soiree. "It got a little tight there with (Roja) trying to clear early, but I found myself comfortable and just trying to get her running before the bend. She had a lot of work to do because the track has been speed-favoring today and yesterday. I tried to get her going a little earlier and she was just slowly pedaling trying to run down the winner, but we couldn't get there. The closer and closer we got to the wire, I thought (I could catch the winner), but I wish they would move the wire."
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners purchased Roja for $70,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale and campaigns her in partnership with Madaket Stables. She graduated at third asking in her turf debut last May at Laurel Park and suffered her lone defeat on the lawn that June, finishing a nose second to Gata Brazil in the Stormy Blues in her stakes debut.
Bred in Kentucky by C. Kidder, Roja is out of the stakes-placed Red Ransom mare Redmeansgo. She banked $137,500 with the win and improved her record to 7: 4-1-1. She returned $13.44 for a $2 win bet.