Newly inducted Hall of Fame jockey Joel Rosario gave Far Bridge a masterly ride in the $750,000 Sword Dancer (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga, guiding the LSU Stables colt to a wire-to-wire upset in the 1 ½-mile turf race.
With the victory, the second Grade 1 of his career, Far Bridge earned an all-fees paid, automatic berth into the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 2
Far Bridge. NYRA Photo
The Breeders’ Cup is in likely Far Bridge’s future
Off at 8-1 over the Godolphin duo of Measured Time and Silver Knott, Far Bridge quickly established himself in front of those two and galloped through moderate fractions of 24.86, 50:92 and 1:17.21 over the firm inner turf course. Given his cue at the three-eighths pole, Far Bridge quickly hit his best stride and shook off favored Silver Knott and then easily repulsed the challenge from favored Measured Time to win by a length.
His time for the 12 furlongs was 2:29.51.
“It looked like one of the two Godolphin horses [Measured Time, Silver Knott] would go to the lead. I broke good and just took advantage of that, let him be happy there and he did all the work. It worked out,” said Rosario. “He was going very nice, very relaxed. He set his own pace and when I called on him to go, he was there for me. He ran a big race. It’s a very nice win. It was very nice to win for [trainer] Christophe [Clement] and everybody else on the team. We’re very happy.”
Far Bridge ($18.40) improved his overall record to 5-3-2 from 12 starts and extended his earnings to $1,477,700. He began his career with Clement, then was purchased and transferred to Todd Pletcher, with whom he won the 2023 Belmont Derby (G1) and was then returned to Clement.
“I am thrilled, and it is a great story,” said Clement. “That horse, I trained him early on, he left us, and he came back, and I am thrilled that he is back in the barn.”
Silver Knott was third, another 3 ¼ lengths back, and was followed under the wire by Pioneering Spirit and Grand Sonata.
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