On the first Saturday in July, racetracks in three states combined to stage a trio of Derbies for 3-year-olds and a trio of Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.
The races cards at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, Horseshoe Indianapolis in Indiana, and Aqueduct in New York hosted Derby-Oaks doubles and while there weren’t any major upsets, there were more than a few surprise winners.
For those who bet horse racing online, here’s a recap after a long day of racing:
Belmont at the Big A
In the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational (G1), the richest of all the races on the day, 5-1 Trikari ($12.40) outdueled White Palomino to win by a head. Legend of Time, the 3-2 favorite trained by Charlie Appleby, was third.
Winning time for the 1 3/16 miles over a firm turf was 1:54.71.
Trikari. Coglianese Photo.
First Grade 1 win for the Amerman Racing-owned colt
Trained by H. Graham Motion, the Oscar Performance colt ridden by John Velazquez won for the third time in his last four starts and improved to 7-4-1-1 overall with earnings at $996,630.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised,’’ Motion said. “My only concern was if he’d get the distance, but this horse, he really doesn’t do anything wrong. I mean he is so impressive in the morning. Physically, he is such a big, strong, good-looking horse.”
In the $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), Appleby-trained Cinderella’s Dream ($9.30) had to go super wide under William Buick, collared leaders Segesta and favorite She Feels Pretty in the final 70 yards and won by three-quarters of a length.
Cinderella’s Dream. Coglianese Photo.
The Shamardal bay filly is now 5-for-6 after rebounding from her only loss – seventh in the 1000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket on May 5.
Horseshoe Indianapolis
Dragoon Guard ($5.80) took the lead heading into the first turn and held off a mild bid by favorite Stronghold for a 2 ½-length win the $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3).
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, the gray son of Arrogate won a graded stakes in his first try and improved to 3-for-4 with a three-race winning streak.
“If he continues to make progress, he could be right there with the top 3-year-olds, I really believe that,” Cox said. “This was just the next step in his progression and I’m happy with what he was able to do today.”
In the $200,000 Indiana Oaks, 10-1 longshot Chatala ($23.80) outdueled Little Jamie to win by head for trainer Grant Forster.
Winning time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.93. Antonio Fresu was aboard the winner, a daughter of Gun Runner making her 3-year-old debut.
Prairie Meadows
In the $225,000 Iowa Oaks, Just Basking ($5.60) rated last of five in a tightly bunched field and moved to the lead under Chris Landeros in upper stretch for a 4 ¾-length victory over Just Be Quiet.
The gray filly by Arrogate covered the 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:43.40 for trainer Ian Wilkes. The race was hand timed due to a timer malfunction. Shimmering Allure, the 7-10 favorite, was last.
Henro ($11.60), ridden by Rafael Bejarano pulled off an upset of 7-10 favorite Just a Touch with a head victory in the $250,000 Iowa Derby.
Trained by Chris Hartman, the 3-year-old gelding improved to 6-3-1-0 with the win over the Brad Cox-trained Just a Touch, who finished last of 20 in the Kentucky Derby following a strong runner-up effort in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
Mugatu, who finished last of eight in the Preakness (G1), was fifth in a field of nine.
In other races of note Saturday:
— Domestic Product ($3.40) rolled to a 7 ½-length victory over Hades in the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at the Big A. The Pegasus Stakes runner-up following a 13th place finish in the Kentucky Derby, was ridden by Flavien Prat for trainer Chad Brown.
Also at the Big A, favorite Mullikin ($4.40) took the lead at the five-sixteenths pole and won the $200,000 John A Nerud Stakes (G2) for 4-year-olds and up by 1 ½ lengths over Coastal Mission.
In the final stakes race of the night, at Prairie Meadows, Red Route One ($9) was taken four wide around the far turn by jockey Florent Geroux, kicked in at the sixteenth pole and won the $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap (G3) by a half-length over 66-1 longshot Unload.
Velocitor finished third but was disqualified to fourth for interference with Ain’t Life Grand, who was moved from fourth to third place.
Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 4-year-old Red Route One won the New Orleans Classic (G2) in March, then finished third in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in April and fourth in the Pimlico Special (G3) in May.
With the win, Red Route One improved to 21-5-4-3 and boosted his earnings to over $1.7 million.
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The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
