In the morning, Italian star jockey Frankie Dettori walked the turf course at Kentucky Downs to check things out before the biggest day of racing at the track near the Tennessee border.
Turned out to be well worth the stroll over a course he had never ridden on as Dettori not only won the $3.1 million Nashville Derby Invitational (G3) aboard Bellum Justum on Saturday. He won two other races earlier on the card.
Bellum Justum won the 1 5/16-mile race by 2¼ lengths over Carson Run and improved to 9-3-2-1 on grass.
“I was telling people he was going to win, and I was right,” Adrian Beaumont, who works at the International Racing Bureau recruiting horses to run in America, 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.”
Bellum Justum, an Ireland bred is trained by Andrew Balding. The winner’s share was $1,054,310 from a base purse of $1.9 million. If a Kentucky bred had won, the purse would have been $3.1 million.
Pippa Tuthill, the assistant racing manager to owner King Power Racing, 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.”
The 2-1 favorite in a field of 12, Dettori and Bellum Justum ($6.44) took control in mid-stretch and won easily.
“He absolutely flubbed the start,” Dettori 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.”
Earlier on the card, Dettori won a pair of allowance races with Arrest Me Red (race 3, $11.60) and Linzer (race 4, $7.78).
$1.5 million Ladies Turf Sprint
Ag Bullett ($7.94), ridden by Umberto Rispoli, led from the start and won by 5½ lengths over favorite Dontlookbackatall, setting a track record of 1:14.19 for 6 ½ furlongs.
“I didn’t expect her to run that good,’’ trainer Richard Baltas said. “I knew that she was training lights out. Her last race was the same thing. I had a hard time putting the saddle on her.”
$1.5 million Ladies Turf
Walkathon, a 5-year-old mare, won by three lengths over Sacred Wish and returned $19.90. The winner was ridden by Brian Hernandez, Jr, for trainer Ian Wilkes. Implicated, the slight favorite, finished 11th of 12.