French-Bred La Sardane Tops Intercontinental Field
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
La Sardane fights through the stretch to win the Intercontinental by a neck at Belmont Park
It took founder and CEO Barry Irwin a little more than 30 years to notch his 300th stakes win with his Team Valor International partnership.
He needed only 10 days to collect No. 301.
European group 2 winner La Sardane rallied from fourth in a field of eight to post a neck victory over the Bob Baffert-trained Faypien in the seven-furlong, $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park on the June 7 opening day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
"She was our 11th horse to earn black type this year," said Irwin by phone. "We're quite proud of that. It's been a nice roll for us."
The victory was La Sardane's second in three starts in the United States, following a May 3 optional-claiming allowance win at Churchill Downs for Team Valor and trainer Neil Drysdale.
"She's coming along well. She had a long time off, and Barry said take your time with her, so we gave her some extra time. The first race back didn't go quite according to plan, but in the next race we could see what she was," Drysdale said.
Unraced in 10 months since winning the 2017 Prix de Sandringham (G2) at Chantilly, La Sardane finished 10th in a Keeneland allowance race in her U.S. debut, but then quickly turned the corner and returned to the form she displayed in Europe.
"It's a spectacle every time she runs," said Irwin, who purchased the Kingsalsa filly prior to her win in the Prix de Sandringham. "She was the second-best miler among 3-year-old fillies in Europe last year. I expect her to be a multiple grade 1 winner going a mile here. Today was a little short for her, and she still won."
The French-bred La Sardane was listed at morning-line odds of 20-1 for the fifth running of the Intercontinental but was sent off as the 4-1 third choice to return $10.80, a turn of events that had Irwin in a sarcastic mood.
"I knew the morning line would not hold up," he said. "So very few people know anything about European racing. Simon Bray (of TVG) is the only one who can make an intelligent comment about it. Other people don't have a clue. This filly to me was an absolute slam dunk. I never thought for a second we would lose this race. We were actually thinking about running her in the (Longines) Just a Game (Stakes, a grade 1 mile June 9 at Belmont Park)."
Grade 2 winner Faypien, making her turf debut, set the early pace in the Intercontinental, posting a half-mile in :45.43 on the firm turf. La Sardane, with Flavien Prat aboard, collared the leader in midstretch but could not go by as the two battled to the wire, with the Team Valor 4-year-old prevailing in a stakes-record time of 1:20.04 for the seven furlongs.
The previous mark of 1:20.05 was set by Mississippi Delta in last year's stakes.
The win was the fourth in 10 starts for La Sardane, who earned $120,000 and now has career earnings of $268,879. She was bred by SCEA Plessis and Jean Guillemin.
Heavenly Score, who was second early then dropped back to fourth, rallied to finish third, just a nose behind Faypien.
The order of finish was completed by Malibu Stacy, Always Thinking, Delectation, 5-2 favorite Stormy Victoria, and Thundering Sky.