For a few brief moments, it looks like Chad Brown, represented by Rougir (Fr) (Territory {Ire}); six for six second pick Bleecker Street; and third pick 9-2 Virginia Joy (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) – not to mention the personal jet Flighty Lady (Ire) – didn’t really get the New York S trophy. But the depth was like So, and all for Peter Brant, it was almost impossible to beat, and Bleecker Street, perhaps the most famous undefeated horse in the country, flew home in final fashion to reach new heights. .
The first extended to 10 out of a 9 in a row at GII Hillsborough S. in Tampa on March 12 and as part of a productive weekend for Brown and Brant at Churchill during May 6 GIII Modesty S., Bleecker Street was content to go early when the difficult Flighty Lady got to her first turn, but then only posted the slightly non-rabbit parts: 24.54, :50.76 and 1:16.48. Family Way followed up a few paragraphs after that and made it clearer than the rest of the school. Family Way took over heading home, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode on Bleecker Street as he guided his horse further outside for smooth sailing. Family Way still looks like a winner in the midst of a crisis because no one near her has actually kicked it, but Bleecker Street – dons a red cap to distinguish herself from her three steady friends she – zoomed in on the house in time.
“Her finishing kick, especially with those slow segments, is great,” said Ortiz, who also drove the newly named car. ‘Rising star TDN’ Artorius (Arrogate) as well as GII True North S. Sound Money (Flatter) runner-up for Brown on the card. “There aren’t too many horses that can go at slow speeds, slow fractions, like that. I moved very wide to get around and she was still there. She gave me a good kick. She is very good. They’re backing up a bit towards me and they’re a bit slow and then everyone’s running fast home, so it’s hard to catch them. But she got the job done.”
This is Ortiz’s first time riding the winner – Flavien Prat jumped off her to go to Rougir.
“I’ve never ridden her before so I spoke to Flavien and he gave me some advice, like she’s pretty easy going and she’s not too fast out of the gate,” Ortiz said. “I tried to find out everything I could about her. She’s undefeated and I want to keep going with her. Now she is 7 for 7 and everything is going perfect. Thanks God. ”
Brown, whose three previous wins in the event also included a 2019 score for Brant, said of the winner, “What a remarkable horse. I’m not sure about a mile and a quarter. She finished her race as if she was going to make it, but as you know, disability didn’t always work out that way. Just because they are closing and you keep stretching them out, sometimes it has to do with their speed, when they move, and how long they travel. This does all we put on her. What a remarkable horse – where she started and where she came from. She’s rising in the ranks of one of the better guys I’ve had. ”
Bleecker Street began her career as a member of the “B team” perceived to be Brown, winning her first at Monmouth and passing her tier one allowance at The Meadowlands. She was joined and withdrawn from the Keeneland sale last November.
As for Rougir, last year’s G1 Prix de l’Opera winner and most recently an impressive G3 Beaugay S. dish will be shorter here, Brown said, “She didn’t fire today. She’s in a good position, always ahead of Bleecker Street. We don’t have any excuses. We will return to the drawing board. Perhaps the softer ground in her form suggests [she prefers softer turf]but she certainly trained very well at Belmont. ”
Friday, Belmont . Park
NEW YORK S.-HOLD$735,000, Belmont, 6-10, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 2:02.58, fm.
first-BLEECKER STREET, 122, f, 4, by Quality Sugar
First beat: Lemon liqueur (SP), at exchange rate
Beat 2: Limoncella, by Lemon Drop Kid
3rd dam: A Trip Around Heaven, by Halo
GRADE 1 I WIN. ($400,000 Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Branch Equine, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $400,000. Lifetime record: 7-7-0-0, $834,700. Nick Werk Rating: C+. Click to view eNicks report & pedigree of 5 children.
2-Family Way, 120, m, 5, x Uncle Mo
First Dam: Susie’s Baby, Giant’s Causeway
2nd dam: Mekko Hokte, by Holy Bull
Dam 3: Aerosilver, by Relaunch
TYPE 1ST G1 BLACK. ($775,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; €150,000 3 years 20 ARQDEC). O-Fergus Galvin, Debra L. O’Connor, & Marc Detampel; B-Diamond Creek Farm (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $140,000.
3–Flighty Lady (Ire), 118, m, 5, by Sir Percy (GB)
Dam One: Airport (GB), Dansili’s (GB)
2nd Dam: Emplane, on the Irish River (Fr)
3rd Dam: Peplum, by Nijinsky II
(21,000gns Ylg ’18 TAOCT). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Tally Ho Stud (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown. 75,000 dollars.
Margins: HF, NK, NK. Odds: 2.85, 10.00, 51.25.
Also Ran: Virginia Joy (Ger), Rougir (Fr), Core Values, Lovely Lucky.
Click to view Equibase.com chartthe PP of TJCIS.com or Free Equineline.com catalog style genealogy. VIDEO sponsored by TVG.
Genealogical notes:
Bleecker Street becomes 14th Class I winner for Quality Sugar, and the second for Brown and Brant, after the footsteps on Dunbar Road. This is the first North American top-level winner from a mare thanks to the exchange rate of his son Danzig (he has three in South America).
Dam Lemon Liqueur (Exchange Rate) was the first winner and a minor to stake for the late My Meadowview Farm owner/raiser and Rick Violette. She was acquired by Ben Berger’s branch horse for $75,000 in ponies for Honor code at the November 2016 auction at Keeneland and RNA’d at that auction two years later for just $19,000 after not being bred following the Bleecker sugar theft. Bleecker Street has a 2-year-old half-sister named Red Lemonade (Always dreaming) who was bred by Delia Nash, an avid hound by Flatter, and an April 6 pony by Not this time.
