Force the Pass Brilliant in Belmont Derby
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Richard Santulli's Force the Pass delivered a career-best performance July 4 in the $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational (gr. IT) at Belmont Park, making a powerful rail-skimming move heading into the far turn and sprinting away to win by 3 3/4 lengths.
The 3-year-old son of Speightstown enjoyed an ideal trip, third on the inside under jockey Joel Rosario, behind a leisurely pace set by 2-1 favorite Bolo. That California invader went a quarter in :24.57 and a half in :50.30 with jockey Rafael Bejarano while pursued by Granny's Kitten and the eventual winner, and clocked three-quarters in 1:15.38 but faded severely to last in the nine-horse field and was pulled up and vanned off.
According to Dr. Lisa Fortier of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, a veterinary examination found "nothing wrong" with Bolo, She added he would be re-examined in the morning.
Force the Pass, meanwhile, bulled through on the rail with a strong run heading for home, and ran the mile in 1:39 flat en route to the first grade I score of his career and a final time of 2:01.16 for the 1 1/4-mile test on firm turf. Coming off his first graded stakes victory, the May 30 Penn Mile (gr. IIIT), he returned $22.20, $8.80, and $5.60 at odds of 10-1. Canndal ($11.40, $6.30) and Startup Nation ($6.10) rounded out the trifecta.
Completing the order of finish were Closing Bell, Takeover Target, Postulation, Divisidero, Granny's Kitten, and Bolo.
"Good trip, perfect trip," Rosario said. "He broke a little slow and then we were covered right away. It looked like we were going to be fourth going into the first turn, but we ended up being second or third. He was getting out a little bit going forward and I just tried to stay near the rail. As soon as I got to the three-eighths pole, I got room to go on the inside and just went forward and controlled the race from there."
Force the Pass was bred in Kentucky by Santulli's Colts Neck Stables from the Dynaformer mare Social Queen. The Belmont Derby was his third stakes score overall for trainer Alan Goldberg; he also took the April 1 Cutler Bay Stakes after breaking his maiden in March, both races at Gulfstream Park. The winner's purse of $670,000 fattened his bankroll to $1,030,084.
"We were hoping (early on) for a dirt horse because he handled everything so well. Very professional," Goldberg said. "We brought him up here three days ago—he'd never been here before—and he never turned a hair. We'll give him the summer off and look towards the fall."