Artemis Agrotera Gets Up to Win Gallant Bloom
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By Jerry Bossert
Needing the entire length of Belmont Park's sandy stretch, heavily favored Artemis Agrotera got up to nail La Verdad on the wire to take the Gallant Bloom Handicap (gr. II) by a head Saturday, Sept. 20 .
The victory means the 3-year-old filly is the likely favorite for the DraftKings Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I).
La Verdad broke on top and had a four-length lead at the top of the stretch, while 2-5 favorite Artemis Agrotera amd jockey Rajiv Maragh broke slowly and trailed at one point early on, as La Verdad set fractions of :21.61 and :43.78 for the half-mile. In midstretch it appeared La Verdad would get the job done, but Artemis Agrotera kept on coming, catching her on the wire for her fifth win from seven starts and improved her bankroll to $943,800.
The winner returned $2.80, $2.10, and $2.10. La Verdad returned $4.10 to place and $2.70 to show, while Willet returned $2.30 to show. Merry Meadow, Classic Point, and Bridgehampton completed the order of finish.
Artemis Agrotera was bred by her owners Chester and Mary Broman and ran the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.49 over Belmont's main track that was labeled fast. She was bred in New York and is by Roman Ruler out of the A.P. Indy mare Indy Glory.
"I didn't expect (Artemis Agrotera to be that far back)," said winning trainer Mike Hushion. "I did something very smart, I didn't say anything to Rajiv. He's riding like that—he's making all the right decisions. I'd hate to have him think I wanted something, and he made a great decision here."
"I assumed they were going that fast, because my filly is naturally quick, and if she's 10 lengths off the lead, La Verdad had to be going fast to be that far in front of her," Maragh said. "In the stretch, my filly found a second wind and a third wind. Even if she had run second or third it would have been a good performance. It shows what kind of filly she is to get up and win the race from where she was."
"Now we have six weeks (to the Breeders' Cup)," Hushion said. "We can take our time. She has this under her belt. Like Rajiv said, he learned a lot about her today."
"What can I say?" said jockey Jose Ortiz aboard La Verdad. "Artemis Agrotera is a very nice filly, too."
Artemis Agrotera won her first two starts, including the Frizette Stakes (gr. I), to begin her career before finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) last Nov. 2. She finished eighth in the June 7 TVG Acorn Stakes (gr. I), making her 3-year-old debut, before reeling off back-to-back wins at Saratoga Race Course, taking the Ballerina Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 23.