June 12, 2005
In a race that featured an odds-on favorite and two Grade 1-winning millionaires, Sand Springs and John Velazquez went to the lead and never looked back to win the Grade 2 $300,000 Emirates Airline Just A Game Breeders' Cup on the Belmont Stakes Day racecard on Saturday.
"I was concerned about the pace, but she relaxed and was racing within herself," said winning trainer Bill Mott. "I was more impressed with the way she opened up at the end."
Jerry Bailey and 3-5 favorite Intercontinental settled in midpack and moved at the half-mile pole, but they had to settle for second. Wonder Again, under Edgar Prado, closed for third. Sand Springs set fractions of :23 2/5, :46 2/5 and 1:10 and finished the one-turn mile in 1:33 over the firm Widener Turf Course. She paid $17.40 to win.
"I wanted her to be wherever she was comfortable," Velazquez said. "If you try to fight her, she tries to run off and drifts out. Into the turn, she came in. She was very comfortable. Once she got into a comfortable rhythm, she was fine. When I asked her to run, she was there for me."
Sand Springs - a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare Dynaformer, out of Lovely Martha (Storm Bird) - earned $180,000 for the Sangster Family Stable. She is now 8-4-2 from 23 starts with earnings of $926,558.
"She's tough to handle in the morning and tough to ride in the afternoon," Mott said, "but looking back, this was all well worth it. I know that Johnny (Velazquez) is used to handling tough horses, so I felt comfortable with him being on this mare." Intercontinental (GB) carried highweight 123 pounds. Bailey liked his position early in the race: "I couldn't have been happier down the backstretch," he said. "She just didn't fire. She didn't finish like she usually does. She had the pace in front of her. She was a little wide on the turn, but she's the best horse in the race. She should overcome that."
Wonder Again and Riskaverse, both millionaire Grade 1 winners, were making their first starts in seven months. Wonder Again earned $30,000 for Joan and John Phillips to increase her career earnings to $1,141,682. Riskaverse followed the rail and got stuck in traffic at the top of the stretch where she lost momentum and finished eighth.
Manhattan Handicap
Brooklyn Handicap
Riva Ridge BC Stakes
Just a Game BC Stakes
True North BC Stakes
