Siskany, Poppy Flower Land Graded Wins at Belmont

A confident and patient ride from William Buick landed Siskany  in the winner's circle following the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park June 9. Siskany rolled home a two-length winner over The Grey Wizard  in the two-mile turf race that featured 13 runners.

Siskany, a 5-year-old gelded son by Dubawi , is owned and bred by Godolphin which won the preceding race on the card, the Acorn Stakes (G1), with Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Pretty Mischievous . 

"Fantastic," Michael Banahan, Godolphin's director of bloodstock, said in the winner's circle. "We have a few nice horses running this weekend. Great to win the Acorn with our Oaks filly; we're big fans of her and now to win this with our colleagues from England as well on the turf here."

Siskany, trained by Charlie Appleby, was running in the United States for the first time after winning seven races while racing in Europe and the Middle East. He and Buick won the Nad Al Sheba Trophy (G3) at Meydan Racecourse in February.

The pacesetter in Friday's marathon race was Tide of the Sea  who led the field through pedestrian fractions until the stretch when a cavalry charge materialized with Siskany bounding down the middle of the Widener turf course en route to his flashy victory. The Grey Wizard was followed under the wire by British Royalty , a neck back in third.

The final time was 3:23.94 and the winner, the 4-5 favorite, returned $3.70.

Poppy Flower Turns the Tables on Bubble Rock in Intercontinental

Beaten a half-length by Bubble Rock  when the pair last met in the May 7 License Fee Stakes, Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower  would not be denied a second time, nailing her rival at the wire to capture the $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park June 9.

As Bubble Rock played catch me if you can on the lead, firing off splits of :22.29 and :45.61 under a stern hold from jockey Joel Rosario, Poppy Flower raced in mid-pack never too far back from the free-wheeling frontrunner. Jose Ortiz, the winner of three races on Friday afternoon including the New York Stakes (G1T) aboard Marketsegmentation , angled Poppy Flower wide and into the clear turning for home, and the Lea   filly powered down the lane in a blanket charge to the wire.

Flying past foes late, Poppy Flower edged Bubble Rock by a nose in the photo with Amy C  another three-quarters of a length back in third. Favored Bay Storm  finished fourth.

Trained by Bill Mott, Poppy Flower ($15) raced the six furlongs on a firm turf course in 1:08.53.

"We bred her, and raced the mare (Nisharora, by Excellent Art) so this is very exciting, and this is her first foal so it's really thrilling," said Megan Jones, the general manager and owner of Arnmore Farms. "Down the stretch we were cheering for her, but I didn't think she got there. (After they crossed the wire) we stayed sitting and then they showed the replay, and obviously, that was a nice surprise. That was amazing. When Poppy kicks, it's always unbelievable but it just didn't look like she got there, so we are thrilled."

A two-time listed stakes winner, the Intercontinental was the first graded stakes victory for Poppy Flower. The 4-year-old filly improved her record to 4-5-2 from 14 career starts and earnings of $505,030.