Peter Brant's Virginia Joy upset 1-5 favorite War Like Goddess with a front-running score in the $600,000 Flower Bowl (G2), an 11-furlong inner turf test for older fillies and mares, Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
The victory provided Brant [5] and trainer Chad Brown [6] with record extending scores in the Flower Bowl, which offered a “Win and You're In” berth to the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G2) going 1 3/16 miles on November 5 at Keeneland.
Piloted by the Spa's leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr., who notched his fourth Flower Bowl score, the 5-year-old Solider Hollow mare set fractions of :26.47, 53.29, 1:19.59, and 1:45.29 over the firm going under little pressure from the stalking Coastana as the Joel Rosario-piloted War Like Goddess saved ground in fifth position.
War Like Goddess advanced to the outside of Flanigan's Cove through the final of three turns and took dead aim at the pacesetter, but could not reel in a runaway Virginia Joy, who notched the neck victory in a final time of 2:19.51. It was a further 1 1/4-lengths back to Coastana in third with Temple City Terror, Flanigan's Cove and Marvelous Maude rounding out the order of finish. Capital Structure was scratched.
It was the German-bred bay's first score since a gate-to-wire 14 1/4-length romp under Ortiz in the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay over yielding ground in May at Belmont Park.
“That was our plan. There wasn't any speed in the race,” Brown said. “She had already won a nice race earlier in the season going wire-to-wire, so I told Irad, 'why don't you put her on the lead. Unless somebody goes crazy, just put her out there and just see how far she'll go.' She's been effective before doing it, so it worked out.”
Brown, who won this event previously with Stacelita [2011], Stephanie's Kitten [2014-15], Lady Eli [2016], Fourstar Crook [2018] and Sistercharlie [2019], said he knew the favored War Like Goddess would eventually come calling.
“I know there was a real bear behind her getting ready to come at her,” Brown said. “Fortunately for us, she had some traffic trouble, the favorite, and she started her run a little later than I'm sure she wished she could have and we were able to just beat her to the wire.”
Ortiz, who captured the Grade 3 Saranac earlier on the card aboard Annapolis, said the plan worked to perfection.
“It was a comfortable lead and that was the plan to make the lead and make it as slow as I can. It worked out good,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “She gave me a great kick from the quarter pole to the eighth pole. I worked on her and she stayed on and that was the only reason she held on.”
Virginia Joy entered from a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Glens Falls on August 6 at the Spa, defeated 1 3/4-lengths by the victorious War Like Goddess and a half-length back of runner-up and returning rival Temple City Terror.
War Like Goddess, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, overcame slow-paced setups in her previous two starts this year to notch successful title defenses in the Grade 3 Bewitch in April at Keeneland ahead of her Glens Falls coup.
Mott lamented the soft splits.
“You would even hope for a :51 or something like that, but :53 and 1:19 for the three-quarters is just impossible to overcome,” Mott said. “When they went into the first turn I thought the horses were going well enough and then of course, as they came by the stands for the first time they were slowing it down, slowing it down, slowing it down. By that time, he [Rosario] was getting a ground saving trip. He was stuck down on the rail.
“I'm not sure if he had an opportunity to maybe let her pick up horses and I think there was maybe one point where he did, but he opted not to do it,” Mott continued. “She came flying. She's a good horse. I don't know how fast she came home, but she was rolling. Pace makes the race and in this case, it wasn't meant for us.”
Brown said he will take time to consider a Breeders' Cup try for Virginia Joy, who added to Brant's past Flower Bowl winners of Just a Game [1980], Scoot [1986], River Memories [1989] and Sistercharlie.
“You know, I'm not sure. She certainly showed a lot today,” Brown said. “She had it her way though to be realistic about it. We'll see. The races get harder as you start to put the Grade 1s next to them. She's a quality horse and probably deserves consideration after today.”
Bred in Germany by Gestut Auenquelle, Virginia Joy banked $330,000 in victory while improving her record to 14-6-2-2. She returned $11.80 for a $2 win bet.
The post ‘She Was Rolling’: Virginia Joy Makes All The Pace In Flower Bowl, Holds On For Narrow Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Hurst Racing Stables' Go Joe Won, the longest shot on the board at 21-1, battled for the lead from right out of the gate, then fought through a furious stretch battle to just hang on to score by a nose in the one mile Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds Saturday at Del Mar.
The Kentucky-bred ridgling by the Giant's Causeway stallion Protonico barely bested 9-10 race favorite High Connection, owned by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud. Finishing third, more than 10 lengths behind the top pair, was Bernsen, Little Red Feather Racing or Rockingham Ranch's Newgrange.
Go Joe Won was ridden by veteran Jose Valdivia, Jr. and is trained by Paula Capestro. It was his second victory in his fifth start and the $75,000 winner's share of the $125,000 purse increased his bankroll to $145,780.
Winning time for the dirt mile was 1:37.69.
Go Joe Won paid $44.80, $8.80 and $3.40. High Connection returned $2.60 and $2.10, while Newgrange paid $2.60 to show.
This was the 48th edition of the Shared Belief, named for the champion gelding who died unexpectedly in 2015 at the age of 4. The race previously was known as the El Cajon Stakes.
Post-race quotes:
JOSE VALDIVIA, JR. (Go Joe Won, winner)—“He broke out of there running, that was the whole idea. That other horse (High Connection) came on to me and it was a battle right from the gate. Every time I would take a hold of my horse, he kept wanting to fight. He was just game. He just would not let that other horse go by, even on the gallop out. Hats off to Paula Capestro and crew. We were brushing the whole way. He's the bigger horse and as you can see, he was laying on me from the quarter pole. And once he laid into me, it made my horse come out a little. The pressure was coming from the outside and he had the whole length of the stretch to get by me. And he never did.”
PAULA CAPESTRO (Go Joe Won, winner) – “We didn't know who was going to win the break and who was going to get the lead. If they had to go kamikaze, we'd sit off, but if we got the lead we'd just make them come get us. I thought he was going to run hard. I thought they were going to have to run hard to beat us. He tends to wait on other horses. It's sort of a game for him. He just waits on horses and then races them.”
FRACTIONS: :21.89 :45.14 1:10.82 1:24.00 1:37.69
The stakes win was the first of the meet for rider Valdivia, Jr, but his second (Latin Rhythms, second division, 2007) in the Shared Belief. He now has 13 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Capestro and her first in the Shared Belief. She now has three stakes wins at Del Mar.
The winning owner is Hurst Racing Stable of Eric Hurst of Hubbard, Ohio.
The post Go Joe Won Noses Out High Connection For Shared Belief Upset appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
6th-Del Mar, $82,500, Msw, 9-3, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:16.62, ft, 1 1/2 lengths.
NATIONAL TREASURE (c, 2, Quality Road–Treasure, by Medaglia d'Oro) dispatched at 3-1 in this debut, was hustled out of the gate by John Velazquez, hitting the front just before the first quarter went up in a lively :21.89. Hounded by Practical Move (Practical Joke) through a :44.37 half-mile, the $500,000 FTSAUG buy showed the way into the lane and held off a late bid from stablemate Massimo (Uncle Mo) to score by 1 1/2 lengths. Practical Move held third. This is the extended female family of GISW Leofric (Candy Ride {Arg}). The winner has a yearling half-brother, Pirate (Omaha Beach), and a weanling half-sister, Renoir (Authentic), while his dam was bred back to Quality Road for a full-sibling to National Treasure in 2023. Sales History: $500,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
The post Quality Road Colt Scores in Del Mar Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
