Songbird was the queen of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. and Bob Baffert surely its grand marshal.
In a rare year that he was not represented in the Triple Crown, the Hall of Fame trainer won four Belmont Park stakes Saturday with total purse value of more than $2.5 million. A trio of 3-year-olds was included with Abel Tasman rising atop the filly division in the Grade 1 $700,000 Acorn after winning the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks in May at Churchill Downs.
American Anthem won the Grade 2 $500,000 Woody Stephens and West Coast the $150,000 Easy Goer before 4-year-old Mor Spirit ran away with the Grade 1 $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap.
"I'm proud of my whole team. They came here today and really contributed to it," said Baffert after Mor Spirit's third consecutive stakes win and the trainer's first in the Met Mile.
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith rode all four Baffert winners plus two-time champion filly Songbird, who returned to the races in triumph after suffering the only defeat of her career in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
Songbird ($2.70), in her 4-year-old debut, put away the determined Paid Up Subscriber with more ease than her one-length final margin indicated, Smith getting the favorite's attention with a few underhand taps of the whip on Songbird's right shoulder.
"Let's call this a great race off the layoff," said her Hall of Fame trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer. "I'm not sure she's at the top of her game right now, but she did very well today. Mike gave her a great ride and he's in the groove today. ... I would say that Mike knew what he had under him."
Songbird ran 1 1/16 miles around one turn in 1:42.24 for her eighth Grade 1 victory and 12th win from 13 career starts for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm. This was her first start at Belmont Park after racing twice at Saratoga in upstate New York last year.
Mor Spirit, meanwhile, established himself as an emerging star in the older male division with a 6 1/4-length romp in the Met Mile. Heading the class are the Baffert-trained Arrogate, winner of four consecutive million-dollar races, and Gun Runner, Oaklawn's Grade 3 Razorback Handicap winner in February and last-out second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup.
Favored Mor Spirit ($7.10) stalked pacesetter Sharp Azteca into the stretch and kicked clear, clocking the fast-rated mile in 1:33.71. The Eskendereya colt snapped a three-race losing streak in Oaklawn Park's Essex Handicap March 18 and was made the program favorite for the Met Mile after winning Lone Star's Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile by 5 3/4 lengths May 7.
Baffert credited owner Michael Lund Petersen for giving him the chance to unlock Mor Spirit's potential after a 3-year-old season that he finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby.
"We had to start from scratch," Baffert said, "and the owner was really patient."
With his wife and their young son on hand, Baffert exulted on "a pretty incredible day for us. To be able to pull this off ... I wish I had another horse in."
Sports on 06/11/2017