Dettori and Bellum Justum float to the finish. (Coady Media)
Dettori caps three-win day as British import Bellum Justum beats Carson Run in $3.1 million Grade 3, DK Horse Nashville Derby
By Tim Wilkin
FRANKLIN, Ky. – One of Adrian Beaumont’s jobs with the International Racing Bureau is to recruit foreign horses to come to run at Kentucky Downs.
Beaumont, who is based in England, did his job and a horse based in Great Britain is taking the biggest prize Kentucky Downs has to offer back home.
Bellum Justum (IRE) and international star jockey Frankie Dettori won the $3.1 million, Grade 3 DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational by 2 ¼ lengths. The Nashville was the third win on the card for Dettori, who is riding the Kentucky Downs meet for the first time.
Bellum Justum’s win over the 1 5/16 miles improves his record to three wins in nine career starts on the grass. He also has two seconds and a third.
“I was telling people he was going to win, and I was right,” Beaumont said. “This is going to be a massive win back home. Hopefully, it will open the floodgates for more coming here next year with horses as good as this – or better.”
Beaumont said he and trainer Andrew Balding discussed the possibility of coming to Kentucky Downs last month. Balding told Beaumont that if Bellum Justum ran well in the Group 3 John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes, the trip across the pond would be considered.
He finished second by a neck. The bags were packed.
Pippa Tuthill, the assistant racing manager to King Power Racing, which owns Bellum Justum, said they were onboard too. Tuthill was at Kentucky Downs representing King Power. She was scheduled to fly back to England Saturday night.
“They made the decision, and it was the right decision,” Tuthill said. “It was just great to see him run so well. He was traveling very nicely, and we were hoping nothing was going to surprise us and come from off the pace and go past. Frankie gave him a fantastic ride.”
Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, Dettori and Bellum Justum took control in mid-stretch and then drew off to win comfortably.
Dettori said the son of Sea the Stars (IRE) did not have the best of beginnings.
“He absolutely flubbed the start,” he said. “I was way too far back but lucky that (jockey) Jamie (Spencer on Navy Seal) was so fast. On this track, on the back straight I was able to make a good improvement to get a slot because I knew he would stay very well.”
Bred in Ireland by Rabbah Bloodstock Limited, Bellum Justum raced for $1.9 million – the base purse – and took home $1,054,310.
He was saddled by Balding’s assistant Maddy O’Meara, who has been with the horse since he arrived in the U.S. last Friday.
“She has done a great job with him,” Beaumont said.
Carson’s Run, the sentimental choice in the field of 12, rallied down the stretch to finish second, a nose ahead of Rothschild and Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
Trained by Christophe Clement and owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey, Carson’s Run is named after Carson Yost, the son of Wade Yost, a classmate of West Point Thoroughbreds founder and President Terry Finley.
Carson Yost suffers from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a condition that affects many parts of the body. Wade Yost made the trip to Kentucky Downs from his home near Seattle to watch the horse run.
“It’s all good, we were just second-best,” Finley said. “We had a perfect trip and (Joel Rosario) rode him as well as a rider could ride him. I would tell the stakes coordinator to stop going to Ireland and Europe, please.”
Miguel Clement, the son and assistant trainer to Christophe Clement, had no problems with the way Carson’s Run ran.
He was coming back on short rest, having won the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 11.
“He is a very good horse,” Clement said. “He doesn’t miss a beat. You can be tough with him, and he takes it. He nearly pulled off a $3 million race with short rest.”
“It looked for a second that we were going to come with a run on the inside, but the winner was too tough today,” Rosario said. “We’ll take second.”
Rothschild, off at nearly 30-1, was three quarters of a length in front of Abrumar and Edgard Zayas, who was fourth.
“The horse ran out of his skin,” Tom Ryan of SF Racing, which owns the colt with several partners, said. “He beat some good horses in there. The important thing is he showed us he is a good horse.”
Rothschild and Abrumar were most prominent in the early stages of the race, but it was Bellum Justum who took control. Bellum Justum completed the course in 2:07.28 and paid $6.44, $3.84 and $3.28.
After Abrumar, the complete order of finish was Navy Seal, Stromberg, Lagynos, Cameo Performance, Nomos, El Matador, Sea The Thunder and Cugino.
