After running her last nine starts around two turns, Royal Flag had no trouble handling the wide, sweeping lone turn of the famed Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., taking the Grade 2 by 4 1/4 lengths over 2020 winner Horologist.
Under jockey Joel Rosario, Royal Flag took up positon toward the rear of the field of seven early, as Horologist led the field through fractions of :23.97 for the quarter-mile and :48.54 for the half-mile. Around the turn, Zaajel and Royal Flag went wide around Horologist in the lead on the rail and Miss Marissa just behind her in second. Three-wide into the stretch, Royal Flag made her move in the straight, picking off Zaajel, then Miss Marissa, and Horologist to take the lead and win. Gold Spirit passed Zaajel late to take over fourth.
The final time for the 1 1/8 miles over the good track was 1:50.02.
Royal Flag paid $3.40, $2.50, and $2.10. Horologist paid $2.90 and $2.70. Miss Marissa paid $5.10.
“This year she's obviously taken a big step forward. She's trained better than ever and she's been to all of our divisions. Everyone has done a great job of developing her. She's in peak form and [Joel] Rosario gets along quite well with her.
“I'm sure the Farishes are thrilled with her progress as well and the black type that Chad has been able to develop into her. We'll see what's next for her. Off that race, I'm sure Chad and Mr. [William] Farish will consider the Breeders' Cup [Distaff]. We'll get her back and see how she comes out of it, and they'll come up with a plan,” Dan Stupp, assistant to Chad Brown, said after the Beldame.
“She broke really well. We were up a little bit in the race today. Sometimes, when there's no speed, she can be up a little bit. It looked like she was very comfortable, and we were just waiting for the time to come out and let her do her thing,” Rosario told the NYRA Press Office after the race.
Bred in Kentucky by owner Will Farish, Royal Flag is by Candy Ride (ARG) out of the Mineshaft mare Sea Gull. The 5-year-old mare is trained by Chad Brown. The G2 Beldame is Royal Flag's second win in four starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of six wins in 12 starts and career earnings of $573,020.
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