Royal Flag Draws Away in Beldame
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Royal Flag wins the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park
For a horse like Royal Flag that tends to take back before being asked for run later in the race, breaking from the outside post of seven in a one turn race at 1 1/8 miles is hardly cause for concern. And for a horse as talented, strong, and speedy as Royal Flag, staying in that wide path for nine furlongs, as it turns out, isn't much of a worry, either.
In the $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park Oct. 10, jockey Joel Rosario kept the 5-year-old mare well off the rail and in the clear up the backstretch on a fast Belmont track, looping four wide around the final turn before turning her loose. Accelerating at the three-eighths pole, she took command a furlong later, sailing down the middle of the track to win by 4 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:50.02 on a track labeled good. The post-time favorite paid $3.40 for a $2 win bet.
Second-choice Horologist , who led throughout most the race, stayed on for second, followed by longshot Miss Marissa a half-length behind in third.
The win edged Rosario one step closer to tying the late Garrett Gomez's record for stakes wins in a year, set in 2007 when Gomez won 76 stakes races. Rosario won two races at Belmont Sunday, the other being the Futurity Stakes (G3T) on Slipstream . Through Sunday, he has 64 black-type wins for the year.
"I wanted to be out there," said Rosario of running wide. "When she passes horses, she can hang a little bit. I feel like if I get her away from them, she's more focused at that point. So, I stayed out there. If she has another horse there (beside her), she'll just stay there. It looked like she was very comfortable, and we were just waiting for the time to come out and let her do her thing."
Jockey Joel Rosario and Royal Flag's connections celebrate their Beldame victory
A W.S. Farish homebred, Royal Flag is trained by Chad Brown, who also saddled fourth-place finisher Gold Spirit , a group 1 winner in her home country of Chile looking for her first stakes win in the United States.
"This year Royal Flag has obviously taken a big step forward," said Dan Stupp, Brown's assistant. "She's trained better than ever and she's been to all of our divisions. Everyone has done a great job of developing her. She's in peak form and Rosario gets along quite well with her.
"I'm sure the Farishes are thrilled with her progress as well and the black type that Chad has been able to develop into her. We'll see what's next for her. Off that race, I'm sure Chad and Mr. Farish will consider the Breeders' Cup (Distaff, G1). We'll get her back and see how she comes out of it, and they'll come up with a plan."
Royal Flag improved her record to 6-3-3 from 12 starts and pushed her earnings to $573,020. She is by Candy Ride , who stands at Farish's Lane's End Farm and was advertised for a $75,000 fee in 2021.
Farish purchased the mare's dam, Sea Gull , for $270,000 from Denali Stud, agent, in 2007 at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select sale of yearlings in New York. By Lane's End stallion Mineshaft , Sea Gull was a modestly successful racehorse who has produced three graded stakes winners. Eagle , a 2012 full brother to Royal Flag, earned $754,186 from a record of 7-7-2 in 24 starts, including a win in the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. Catalina Cruiser, Sea Gull's 2014 foal by Union Rags , is a five-time graded stakes winner who earned $711,100 before retiring to stand at Lane's End.
Sea Gull also has an unraced 2-year-old Candy Ride filly named Song of the Sea, a yearling Arrogate colt, and a weanling Quality Road colt. She was bred to Into Mischief for 2022.