Casa Creed didn't get as hot of a contested pace in the June 11 Jaipur Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park as he did in winning the 2021 race, but he didn't need it to repeat.
Saving ground on the turn under Luis Saez and cutting the corner into the stretch of the six-furlong turf race, he was able to reel in front-runners Arrest Me Red and True Valour for a half-length score. He became just the second horse in the 39-year history of the Jaipur to repeat following Belmont Park-loving Disco Partner in 2017-18.
Casa Creed ran six furlongs Saturday in 1:07.44 over a firm turf course, quicker than his 1:08.04 clocking last year over "good" ground.
"It's great to get back-to-back wins in the Jaipur with him," said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. "He's a neat horse. He's a real warrior who's gotten better with age.
"We finally found out what he wants to do. He wants to run in the Jaipur every year."
The Jaipur served as a Breeders' Cup Challenge qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) coming up this fall at Keeneland. It is a race Casa Creed skipped last year at Del Mar in favor of the longer FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T), where he ran a close eighth. The off-the-pace runner has run exclusively between six furlongs and a mile since 2021.
"He really needs more than 5, 5 1/2 furlongs," Mott said of the 6-year-old son of Jimmy Creed .
His draw in post 4 and a heady ride from Saez proved difference-makers in the Jaipur, allowing him to draft behind the leaders before he was angled out. He changed leads in midstretch and finished with a flourish from third over the final furlong.
"This horse is a pretty nice horse; he can really run," said Saez. "He just has to have the right trip. Today, we had a good trip."
Saez looked as if he might try to try to bring Casa Creed up the inside to the finish, but chose to move outside the leading duo of True Valour and Arrest Me Red as they drifted inward down the lane.
"I had a little room on the rail but it was tricky because the favorite (Arrest Me Red) was outside," Saez said. "I just went to the best path and went to the outside and he got the job done."
Casa Creed paid $10.40 to win as the second choice in the field of 13.
True Valour set fractions of :22.36 and :44.94, a couple of ticks off last year's splits of :22.06 and :44.65 over a damp course.
Trainer Wesley Ward, on-site at Belmont before leaving later Saturday for Britain to attend to his horses readying for Royal Ascot, was pleased with the performance of favored Arrest Me Red, prior winner of the Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes Presented by Sysco (G2T) at Churchill Downs May 6.
Arrest Me Red inched a half-length past True Valour for the place. The latter was two lengths clear of the mare Change of Control in fourth.
Casa Creed improved to 6-4-4 in 26 starts in winning the $400,000 Jaipur, elevating his earnings to more than $1.4 million for Mike Francesa's JEH Racing Stable and Lee Einsidler's LRE Racing. The horse won for the first time since last year's race, ending a five-race losing streak. Twice this year he raced in the Middle East, finishing a close second in the stc 1351 Turf Sprint Cup (G3T) in Saudi Arabia and a fifth in the Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments (G1T) in Dubai.
Einsidler said both races in the Middle East were top-notch and marveled at how Casa Creed has performed over the last four years after debuting as a juvenile.
"He loves to be a racehorse, he loves to train, he loves running in the afternoon, and he's a horse owner's dream come true," he noted.
Einsidler said another attempt at the Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) could be on deck this summer when the race is contested Aug. 13 at Saratoga Race Course. He ran third last year in the mile race after winning the Jaipur.
"That would be our next logical step. Five and a half (furlongs) at Saratoga is just too short," he said.
Bred in Kentucky by Silver Springs Stud, Casa Creed is among three winners from starters produced from the unraced Bellamy Road mare Achalaya. Besides Casa Creed, she also counts grade 3 winner Chess's Dream (Jess's Dream ) among her stakes winners.
The dam's three unraced foals are a 2-year-old Distorted Humor colt, an Omaha Beach yearling colt, and an Authentic filly born this year.
LRE Racing bought Casa Creed for $105,000 from the Kelli Mitchell consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.