Jolie Olimpica to Beat in Yellow Ribbon

Fox Hill Farms’ speedy Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer), a close runner-up to division leader Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) last out, will go postward as the horse to beat in Saturday’s eight-horse GII Yellow Ribbon S. at Del Mar.

Undefeated in three starts in her native land, capping her Brazilian career with a dominant win over males in the G1 Jockey Club Brasileiro at Gavea last June, the chestnut got off to an auspicious start Stateside when annexing the GIII Las Cienegas S. going 5 1/2 furlongs Jan. 11 at Santa Anita. Getting a clear lead in the GII Buena Vista S. when stretching out to a mile Feb. 22, however, she couldn’t quite stay and settled for second. Rebounding with a score in the GII Monrovia S. back sprinting May 25, she again attempted to stretch her speed in the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. July 11 at Keeneland and again just gave it up late, finishing a narrow second in Rushing Fall’s course-record-setting performance. Drawing outside in a field without other clear speed, she figures to get a dream trip here.

The veteran Beau Recall (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) also comes in off a runner-up finish to a division leader as she tries for a Yellow Ribbon repeat. Upset winner of last spring’s GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S., she captured this event two starts later before closing her 5-year-old account with a second in the GI Rodeo Drive S. Ninth, while only beaten 2 1/4 lengths, in the GIII Old Forester Mint Julep S. in her seasonal debut May 30 in Louisville, she most recently closed from last to complete the exacta behind wire-to-wire victress Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the GI Just A Game S. June 27 at Belmont.

Tommy Town Thoroughbreds’ Keeper Ofthe Stars (Midnight Lute) will attempt to rebound after quickly developing into a division player earlier this year. Last year’s GIII Autumn Miss S. heroine was the one who chased down Jolie Olimpica in the Buena Vista to score a 36-1 upset, then showed that effort was no fluke when taking the GI Gamely S. May 25 in Arcadia. Last time out, however, she finished a dull fifth in the June 20 GIII Wilshire S.

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Brown, Irad Ortiz Jr., Klaravich Stables Win Belmont Park Meet Titles

Chad Brown notched 23 wins to finish as the leading trainer at the Belmont spring/summer meet for the fifth consecutive time and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. posted 34 victories to lead all riders as the 25-day meet concluded on Sunday at Belmont Park. The meet ran from June 3 to July 12.

Klaravich Stables led all owners with 13 wins, outpacing second-place finisher Michael Dubb, who had seven victories.

Brown has been the top trainer at the Belmont spring/summer meet every year since 2016. He recorded a 23-19-8 ledger in 95 starts for his latest triumph, besting Christophe Clement [14 wins].

The spring/summer meet kicked off on June 3 marking the return of professional sports in New York, and also saw the return of live racing for the New York Racing Association, Inc, which temporarily suspended racing in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I'm really proud of our team. We had a late start to the year and it was frustrating for everybody – the staff, the owners, everybody involved,” Brown said. “Our team held it together. We had to change plans with several horses. We had to change plans with living arrangements for people on our team. Everyone had to make sacrifices and alter their life – and that's not just our stable, that's other stables, racetrack management and all around in other industries.”

NYRA's year-ending leading trainer five years running, Brown conditioned five graded stakes-winners at the spring/summer meet, starting with Rushing Fall in the Grade 3 Beaugay on June 3 and continuing with the two wins on the same day with Instilled Regard [Grade 2 Fort Marcy] and Newspaperofrecord [Grade 3 Intercontinental] on June 6. Newspaperofrecord, coming off an 11-month layoff, wheeled back three weeks later to capture the Grade 1 Just a Game on June 27.

Brown trainees ran 1-2 in the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan, with Instilled Regard edging stablemate Rockemperor on July 4 on Runhappy Met Mile Day.

“The Grade 1 wins stand out,” Brown said. “It was an exciting finish for two of our horses in the Manhattan and then Newspaperofrecord coming back and being able to regain her Grade 1 form are highlights of the meet. It's good momentum heading into Saratoga that we're starting to creep towards normalcy and running lots of horses on the big days and being competitive. We're going into Saratoga with good morale after a very difficult first half of 2020 for everybody.”

Ortiz Jr. was the leading rider for the second time in the last three spring/summer meets, compiling a 34-23-13 record in 128 mounts, winning at more than a 26 percent clip. He teamed with Brown for four of his five graded stakes victories of the meet, piloting Newspaperofrecord to both of his graded stakes wins and Instilled Regard to triumphs in both the Grade 3 Intercontinental and Grade 1 Manhattan.

Besides his success with Brown, Ortiz Jr. also earned a winner's circle trip for trainer Kelly Breen when he guided Firenze Fire to victory in the Grade 2 True North on June 27.

“It's good. I've been working so hard, and we've had support from everyone,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “Instilled Regard and 'Newspaper' and Firenze Fire were all good wins. We're just looking to keep going and keep moving forward in Saratoga.”

Ortiz Jr. has finished as NYRA's year-end leading jockey in 2014, 2015 and 2017. He has won the last two Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey for the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. His brother, Jose Ortiz, won three races on Sunday to finish in second with 32 wins on the meet.

“I've done well in the spring here. I'm thankful to all the trainers and the owners,” Ortiz Jr. said.

Klaravich Stables, which was the year-ending leading owner on the NYRA circuit in 2019, repeated as the top owner at the Belmont spring/summer meet. Headed by Seth Klarman, Klaravich Stables posted a 13-6-5 record with 32 starters for a 40.62 winning percentage, racking up $826,8855 in earnings.

Newspaperofrecord's connections encompassed all three respective meet leaders, with Klaravich Stables campaigning him in his two graded stakes wins of the meet.

Thoroughbred action moves to historic Saratoga Race Course for the 40-day summer meet from July 16 to September 7. Featuring 71 stakes worth $14.45 million, the meet will offer 39 graded stakes and 18 Grade 1s, highlighted by the 151st renewal of the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on August 8 and the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on August 1.

 

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Uni Could Try For Redemption In Aug. 22 Fourstardave At Saratoga

Following a third in her seasonal bow in the Grade 1 Just a Game on June 27 to stable mate Newspaperofrecord, reigning Champion Turf Mare Uni is a possibility to face colts in the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave on August 22 at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Chad Brown, Uni suffered her only loss of 2019 in last year's Fourstardave, where she made up 17 lengths to finish third, beaten 2 ½ lengths to a track-record setting performance by Got Stormy. The 6-year-old daughter of More Than Ready solidified championship honors in her next two starts in taking the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland where she set a new course record for one mile on the turf and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

“The only Grade 1 going a flat mile on the grass at Saratoga is against boys. Will we try it? Probably,” said Bradley Weisbord of BSW/Crow Bloodstock, who manages Uni on behalf of owners Michael Dubb, Head of Plains Partners, Robert LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables. “She was an unlucky loser last year to Got Stormy. We could take that route again this year and try to protect our title in the First Lady at Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup Mile.”

Since joining Brown's all-star shed row in 2017 after beginning her career in France for Fabrice Chappet, Uni has placed in all but one of her 13 starts for the four-time Eclipse Award-winning conditioner, including a total of eight stakes victories over six different tracks. Additionally, all of her last nine starts took place going a flat mile.

“She's won on soft turf before, but [jockey] Joel [Rosario] said she was struggling with the turf that day,” Weisbord said of the Just a Game. “She probably needed the race. She had a splint issue in April and breezed four or five times heading into the Just a Game so she wasn't super cherry heading into the race and you have to be cherry to beat a filly like Newspaperofrecord. Hats off to Chad for getting her back to Grade 1 form. She'll be tough the rest of the year.”

In 2018, Uni won twice over soft and yielding turf in the De La Rose at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont Park. Although the turf was listed as “firm” for the Just a Game, there were rain showers in the Elmont area earlier in the program.

Uni, bred in Great Britain by Haras D'Etreham, is out of the Dansili broodmare Unaided.

Rockemperor who was a close second in the Grade 1 Manhattan to stable mate Instilled Regard, could target the Grade 1, $1 million Old Forester Turf Classic on September 5 at Churchill Downs

The Brown-trained son of Holy Roman Emperor had dead aim on the pacesetters when four-wide at the top of the stretch under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, briefly took command within the final half-furlong, but was nosed out of victory by stablemate Instilled Regard.

“It's hard to know what his best distance his, but a mile and an eighth should hit him right over the head,” Weisbord said. “We've gotten beat a lot in stakes, but what made that such a brutal beat was because he had the horses in front of him collared. I don't think the horse or Johnny saw Instilled Regard coming.”

Still in search of his first North American victory, Rockemperor has placed in four of his five starts in the United States. He made his seasonal bow in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds before being disqualified from second to third in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham at Santa Anita.

Rockemperor is owned by Madaket Stables in partnership with Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael E. Kisber and Bethlehem Stables.

Bred in Ireland by Haras du Mezeray, Rockemperor is out of the Muhtathir broodmare Motivation and comes from the same family as multiple graded stakes winner on turf Yagli. Both hail from the prestigious lineage of prolific broodmare Best In Show.

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Newspaperofrecord Caps Five-Win Day For Irad Ortiz Jr. With Frontrunning Just A Game Score

Klaravich Stables' Newspaperofrecord, undefeated as a juvenile en route to a score in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, continued a perfect start to her 4-year-old campaign with a commanding frontrunning score in the Grade 1, $250,000 Just a Game at one-mile over the Widener turf course on a rainy Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The 27th edition of the Just a Game capped a stakes-laden card that also featured the Grade 2, $250,000 New York, won by Mean Mary at 1 ¼ miles on the inner turf; the Grade 2, $150,000 True North for 4-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs captured by Firenze Fire; and a 27-1 upset from Victim of Love in the Grade 3, $100,000 Vagrancy for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up sprinting 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, Newspaperofrecord was winless in three sophomore starts, but the daughter of Lope de Vega returned to form in her 4-year-old debut with a four-length gate-to-wire win in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 6 at Belmont.

Sent to post as the even-money second choice behind stablemate Uni, the reigning Champion Turf Female, Newspaperofrecord zipped to the lead out of post 3 under regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. and marked the opening quarter-mile in 23.79 seconds on the turf labeled firm.

Newspaperofrecord continued to lead the charge down the backstretch, reaching the half-mile in 48.13 with Valedictorian in close pursuit followed by a large gap back to stablemates Regal Glory and Uni.

Uni, with Joel Rosario up, and Regal Glory, under Belmont Stakes-winning rider Manny Franco, launched their bids in tandem through the turn as Valedictorian faded with Newspaperofrecord's lead diminishing. Ortiz, sensing the pressure, took a quick peek back at the competition and asked his talented filly for more and she instantly responded with a tremendous turn of foot to separate herself from the competition.

Newspaperofrecord bounded effortlessly away from the field down the lane to secure the three-length length victory in a final time of 1:35.62. Multiple graded-stakes winner Beau Recall rallied from last to earn place by a half-length over Uni. Regal Glory, Zofelle, and Valedictorian rounded out the order of finish. Got Stormy was scratched.

The victory marked the fourth consecutive Just a Game win for Brown, who won previously with Antonoe [2017], A Raving Beauty [2018] and Rushing Fall [2019].

Brown said he was proud of the impressive effort from Newspaperofrecord on three week's rest.

“We trained her lightly and she has been training very relaxed. Last time, she was going really fast and was a little fresh,” said Brown. “Irad was confident that he could get her to rate a little bit. I loved our post today, off the fence a little bit. The last-minute showers didn't hurt us either. We all know that she likes a little juice in the ground. It was a good effort after three weeks. I was very proud of her. My team has done a great job with her. She's never looked better. She's training so comfortably in the mornings.”

Ortiz said Newspaperofrecord could continue to carry her speed even further going forward.

“She's doing good and has come back really good,” said Ortiz. “Going seven-eighths to a mile is good for her; she can go further, too, and I would not be afraid to go a mile and a sixteenth. I just followed Chad's instructions.”

Ortiz enjoyed a remarkable day at the races with five wins from 10 mounts on the 11-race card. He secured the early double with Sun Summers and Foolish Ghost and notched his third with Flying Finish in the day's fifth race ahead of a score in the Grade 2 True North with Firenze Fire.

The veteran rider, who leads the Belmont spring / summer meet with 27 wins, has earned Eclipse Award honors as Outstanding Jockey the past two seasons. He said the five-win day is a continuation of his dedication to excellence.

“It feels great. I have great support from all the owners and trainers. I'm so happy,” said Ortiz. “It's a dream and I'm working really hard because right now I'm on top in my career. I try to stay focused and try to do the right thing. It's big for me; anytime you can get five wins, it's amazing.”

His brother, Jose Ortiz, said he was pleased with the effort to rally from last-of-six aboard Beau Recall to complete the exacta.

“It was a great effort. I broke OK. She got into a good position and a good rhythm. It's really soft out there,” said Jose Ortiz. “I followed Uni the whole way around there and had a great trip. The winner is just a freak on the soft turf. She loves it.”

Rosario, aboard beaten favorite Uni, said his mare would have appreciated a contested pace.

“She went nice around there and I started making my move early. It looked like the pace wasn't fast,” said Rosario. “I knew there was soft ground. She tried really hard, but today was not her day. I think she needed the race.”

Newspaperofrecord began her career with victories in a Saratoga turf maiden event, the Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs by a combined 20 lengths. As a sophomore, the Lope de Vega bay completed the exacta in the Grade 3 Edgewood at Churchill Downs and the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont ahead of an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational.

Bred in Ireland by Times of Wigan, Newspaperofrecord banked $137,500 in victory while improving her record to 8-4-2-0. She paid $4.10 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Sunday with a nine-race card headlined by the $100,000 Bouwerie, a seven-furlong sprint for New York-bred sophomore fillies in Race 8 at 5:04 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:15 p.m.

 

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