Horse Racing: Malibu Prayer wins Ruffian International at Saratoga; Unrivaled Belle outclassed
The Ruffian Invitational concluded disappointingly for the odds on favourite ‘Unrivaled Belle.’ The horse had to settle for second place behind the other favourite for the day, ‘Malibu Prayer’.
Malibu Prayer had a slightly jumpy start but nothing too awry. She bumped into the gate but didn’t lose pace as the race began. It was Malibu Prayer and Unrivaled Belle at the start both trying to take an early lead, but Malibu Prayer edged ahead and never looked back. She posted splits of 0:23 2/5, 0:46 4/5, 1:10 2/5 and 1:34 4/5. She ran the 1 1/8 miles in a 1:48 to take a length and three quarters’ lead over Unrivaled Belle’s second place finish.
Jockey John Velazquez said that he let Malibu Prayer set her own pace at the start and run the race in a manner she was comfortable with. Quarter length down the track, Velazquez asked the filly for a little more and she responded well. “She did it very easily,” a very pleased Velazquez said after the race.
He had good reason to be pleased after following up on his Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes victory with a Grade I Ruffian Invitational win on the very next day. "This is Saratoga," Velazquez said. "This is where you want to do it."
Unrivaled Belle seemed a bit uneasy behind the gates and straight out the first thing she did was bump into Malibu Prayer. She stumbled a little but was back in the race without losing too much time. It did, however, leave her in second place where she stayed until the finish. She did put up a good fight till the very end and stayed on the heels of Malibu Prayer through most of the race.
Trainer Bill Mott was impressed with the filly’s flawless recovery at the start of the race. He said that if Unrivaled Belle had not stumbled, she could have been less than a length behind the first place finisher. Over in the Malibu camp, there was no disagreement. Assistant trainer Tristan Barry said that Belle’s stumble gave Malibu the upper hand in the race. “She was able to get into a rhythm and just took it from there.”
Riding Unrivaled Belle on that day was Jockey Kent Desormeaux. It can’t be but disappointing to ride the favourite horse that performs well but can’t win because of a slight fumble in the beginning. Kent said that Belle overexerted herself. “We had dead aim at the winner, but the winner ran too fast for us at the end.”
The surprise winner of the day was ‘Classofsixtythree.’ The horse proved herself even though she was given the worst odds of the day. She never challenged the race leaders but held her own nonetheless, finishing in third place. Her trainer, Gary Contessa, was perhaps the only one who had faith in the horse. He acknowledged that the task ahead for Classofsixtythree was daunting, but was still hopeful and said that the other horses competing didn’t have significantly more achievements to their credit.
He said that Classofsixtythree comes running in at the end and if ever there was a chance for her to win a graded race, The Ruffian Invitational was it. Contessa said that the horse was in her best form for the race, though now he is probably hoping his assessment was wrong.
"I just wanted to get a piece," Contessa said after the race, while acknowledging Jockey Castellano’s services. “Finishing third in a Grade I will really help her when it comes time to send her to the breeding shed.”
Third place didn’t come easily. Favourite for third place, ‘Starship Angel,’ didn’t let up her charge for third place all the way till the finish line. In the end, she had to submit to fourth place barely a neck behind third place. Classofsixtythree was the longest shot in the field and gave back $4.10 on a bet.
The Ruffian Invitational was one of the two stakes races that was moved out of Belmont and brought to Saratoga. The Purse for the race was $250,000. This was the first Grade I victory for Malibu Prayer.
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