Caravel Shows the Way in Intercontinental
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Caravel streaks home to win the Intercontinental Stakes at Belmont Park
Race favorite Caravel took advantage of the newly shortened distance of the June 10 $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G3T), scampering home to win the six-furlong turf dash for older fillies and mares in wire-to-wire fashion at Belmont Park.
A turf sprinter brimming with ability, Caravel got back on the beam on Friday for her new connections—trainer Brad Cox and owners Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel, and Madaket Stables—after faltering in the May 6 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes Presented by Sysco (G2T) against males last time out.
Breaking from post 5 with Tyler Gaffalione in the irons, Caravel shot to the front of the Intercontinental, formerly run at seven furlongs on the Widener Turf Course at Belmont, and rattled off moderate splits of :22.58 for the opening quarter-mile and :44.75 for the half over the firm going as she was pursued by Illegal Smile and Star Devine .
Caravel inched away from her pace rivals in the stretch and remained resolute on the lead all the way to the wire, which she hit in a sizzling 1:07.59. She maintained a one-length advantage over Star Devine, who just nipped a hard-charging Jouster by a nose for runner-up honors.
Caravel leads the pack turning for home in the Intercontinental Stakes
The victory was a return to winning ways for Caravel, who began the year with a synthetic score in the Queen Stakes at Turfway Park before taking a step back in the Turf Sprint. No stranger to success on the NYRA circuit, the gray filly won the Caress Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course last summer, which capped off a three-race win streak for former trainer Elizabeth Merryman.
"(Caravel had) been doing really well throughout the second half of the winter—when she ran at Turfway she was doing really well," said Cox. "I only worked her four times, five times maybe, before the Turfway race. It was one of those deals where she had some experience on synthetic and I thought let's just use this. She's a filly that doesn't carry a lot of weight, so therefore I thought if we could get a run into her, then we could circle back to Keeneland or wait for Churchill Downs.
"She was training well enough to give us the confidence to try the boys (in the Turf Sprint). It didn't work out, but nobody was kicking down the inside at Churchill at all. I think she showed today, though, she's one of the best in the division."
Bred in Pennsylvania by Merryman, Caravel returned $7.90 on a $2 win wager and bumped her bankroll to $563,777. The daughter of Mizzen Mast boasts a 9-0-3 record from 15 trips to the post.
Caravel is produced from the winning Congrats mare Zeezee Zoomzoom, who is also the dam of two-time stakes winner Witty (Great Notion ).
After winning the Goldwood Stakes last summer at Monmouth Park, celebrity chef Bobby Flay bought into the filly privately in partnership with Merryman before Caravel went through the ring at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale. Consigned by ELiTE, agent, Fergus Galvin signed the ticket on the filly for $500,000.