George Steinbrenner will be a short price to add a Kentucky Derby cup alongside his six World Series trophies May 7 at Churchill Downs, thanks to a budding superstar named Bellamy Road, who made A-Rod, Derek Jeter and the rest of the Yankees look like bush-leaguers with a smashing score in yesterday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Carrying the Boss’s royal-blue-and-brown Kinsman Stable silks, the strapping bay colt – trained by two-time Derby winner Nick Zito – punched his ticket to Louisville in eye-popping fashion, galloping away to win by an amazing 17½ lengths. His final time of 1:47 tied the track record for a mile-and-an-eighth set by champion Riva Ridge in 1973.
Along with High Fly and Noble Causeway, the 1-2 finishers in last week’s Florida Derby, and Sun King, the favorite for next Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes, Bellamy Road gives his Hall-of-Fame-bound trainer one of the strongest hands in Derby history. Zito also has another possible starter in Andromeda’s Hero, who runs in the Arkansas Derby.
If Zito thinks one should be favored over the others, he isn’t saying.
“Those five horses in our stable are like our kids, and I don’t know any parent who’ll chose one child over another,” he said. “I’m just glad this one [Bellamy Road] is in our family. He might be a special horse.”
Purchased by Steinbrenner as a 2-year-old for $87,000 on the advice of farm manager Edward Sexton, Bellamy Road won his first two starts last year for then-trainer Michael Dickinson before bruising his ankles in the Breeders Futurity. Sent to Zito over the winter, the towering son of Concerto won his first start of the year, a mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park, by 153/4 lengths.
Ridden by 27-year-old Javier Castellano, whom Zito predicted years ago would one day win a Derby for him, Bellamy Road went right to the front in the Wood, quickly opening daylight on D. Wayne Lukas’ stakes winner Going Wild, who was expected to duel for the early lead. Setting an honest pace (:23, :46), Bellamy Road was challenged briefly down the backside, then kicked away again around the far turn and drew clear to a jaw-dropping victory, paying $7.10 as the favorite. Survivalist was along late for second in the field of eight, with Scrappy T third.
“[Bellamy Road] is a big, long horse who wants to run free,” Zito said. “Boy, he was unbelievable! He just kept going. I hope he stays this way for four weeks, and he’ll have a good shot, too. I’m happy for George.”
Bellamy Road will be the sixth, and by far the best, of the horses Steinbrenner has run in the Derby. None of the others finished better than ninth.
(bullet) Lost in the Fog, the colt some consider the best 3-year-old in the nation, did not run in the Wood, won’t run in the Derby, and isn’t even nominated to the Triple Crown, but still put on a show yesterday at the Big A, winning the Grade 3, $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes gate-to-wire by 41/4 lengths to remain unbeaten in five starts.
Trained by Greg Gilchrist and ridden by Hall-of-Famer Russell Baze, Lost in the Fog is based at Golden Gate Fields on the San Francisco Bay, were he broke his maiden last November by 7½ lengths. Since then, the son of Lost Soldier, who was purchased as a yearling for a mere $48,000, won a stakes at Turf Paradise, two at Gulfstream, and now one in New York, all by more than four lengths.
Sent off at 1-9, with more money bet on him to place than win (NYRA cancelled show betting for the Bay Shore), Lost in the Fog went the first quarter in :22.3 pressed by Big Top Cat, the half in :45.2, then drew away with ease when Baze let him run, sizzling seven furlongs in 1:21.1 over a track that was playing fast all day.
“This horse can go real fast, and he does it real handily,” Baze said. “He ran as good, if not better, than he has run in the past.”
Lost in the Fog was not nominated to run in any of the Triple Crown races because his connections thought it would be asking too much, too soon of a young horse who’s yet to go a distance.
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If Lost in the Fog made a fast track look faster, than what can you say about Forest Danger two races later in the Grade 1, $350,000 Carter Handicap for older horses going seven furlongs?
With the wind at his back down the backside, Don Six gunned to the lead under Mike Luzzi and ripped through sensational splits in quarter-horse time of :21.2 and :43.1, with Medallist, Jose Santos up, tracking him along the rail and Forest Danger, favored at 4-5 under Rafael Bejarano, several lengths back to the outside.
Don Six continued in front to mid-stretch, but Forest Danger, after rallying wide, drove past him in the final furlong to score by 13/4 lengths, with Medallist along for second. The final time of 1:20.2 was two ticks off the track record.
