Monday, July 5, 2010
RIGHTLY SO DIGS IN FOR BED O' ROSES VICTORY
By Jon Forbes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Rightly So rushed up to seize the early lead and called upon all of her courage in the final sixteenth of a mile to narrowly win the Grade 3, $150,000 Bed o' Roses Handicap Monday at Belmont Park.
Seeking her first graded stakes victory, Rightly So grabbed the lead a furlong into the race as the favorite Qualia was maneuvered off the rail to track in second. Rightly So was joined to the outside by Qualia following a half in 44.99, and the two proceeded to battle down the stretch, with the pacesetter holding on to prevail by a head.
"She always runs big, but today she wanted to go fast," said winning jockey Cornelio Velasquez. "The track is fast, too, but I had a lot of horse at the top of the stretch and she finished well."
The 7-2 second choice in the field of eight, Rightly So returned $9.40 for a winning $2 wager and covered the distance in 1:22.44.
"She's unbelievable – there's no stopping her," said Elizabeth Currey, assistant to winning trainer Tony Dutrow, who won this race in 2009 with Seattle Smooth. "She's all racehorse."
McVictory finished 3 ¼ lengths behind the winner in third and was 1 ¼ lengths clear of Lady Alexander in fourth. My Dinah, Amazing, and Devil by Design completed the order of finish. Nicksappealinglady was eased in the stretch.
Rightly So improved her record to 6-3-1 from 10 starts and has earned $330,050 to date for owner Zayat Stables. A daughter of Read the Footnotes, Rightly So was bred in
The Bed O' Roses was the third stakes triumph for Rightly So, who had previously won a pair of stakes against state-breds and was entering this spot off a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Vagrancy at
Rightly So's victory in the Bed o' Roses gave New York-breds a sweep of the graded stakes at Belmont over the holiday weekend as she followed the example set by Haynesfield in the Grade 2 Suburban on Saturday and Franny Freud in the Grade 1 Prioress on Sunday.
A rematch between Rightly So and Qualia could happen in the Grade 1 Ballerina on August 28 as both Dutrow and Bobby Ribaudo, who trains the second-place finisher, indicated they will consider that seven-furlong race for fillies and mares at Saratoga.
"She ran well, just got beat by a nice horse," said Ribaudo of Qualia. "She showed she belonged. We'll see what this takes out of her and if everything is well, look forward to the Ballerina at
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