Forte Dei Marmi rallies to take Sky Classic

Forte Dei Marmi rallies to take Sky Classic

Forte Dei Marmi came flying from last to take the Sky Classic (WEG/Michael Burns Photography) Stella Perdomo’s Forte Dei Marmi came up big in the Grade 2, $250,000 Sky Classic Stakes at Woodbine Sunday, winning by three parts of a length. Jockey Alex Solis was aboard the Roger Attfield trainee, who rallied from dead last entering the final two furlongs to capture his first stakes win. “He’s a horse that likes to take his time, but he was very relaxed back there,” Solis said. “At the top of the stretch, I thought it was time to go. I got him out and he did his thing. The way he was moving, I thought I had a good chance to get him.” Longshot Stormy Lord broke to the lead and held on through splits of :26 2/5, :51, 1:15 3/5 and 1:39 1/5. Forte Dei Marmi was biding his time in last before moving up to sixth rounding the final turn and putting in a three-wide rally in the lane. The bay gelding kept motoring in the stretch, advancing to be in front at the wire in a final time of 2:02 2/5 for the 1 1/4-mile, firm-turf battle.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be brick-hard ground,” Attfield
remarked. “It’s fast, but it’s got some give to it. I said to Alex this morning that
if I’ve got him like I had him in the spring, which I think I did, he’ll win the
race. He’s just a horse that has a big kick and a very relaxed horse early on.”

Forte Dei Marmi returned $14.10, $7.50 and $3.70 to his backers as the 6-1 fifth
choice. Stormy Lord was able to
hold on for second while near 3-2 favorite Scalo was third. Rounding out the order of finish
were Pender Harbour, Smart Bid, Hotep, Eye of the Leopard and Miami Deco.

Forte Dei Marmi placed in the Group 3 Huxley Stakes last year in England before
shipping to North America for the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in the fall. The
six-year-old son of Selkirk ran 10th in that North American debut while running
out of the Attfield barn for the first time, and stayed in that shedrow for his
2012 campaign.

He opened this season with a runner-up effort in a Gulfstream Park optional
claimer, then shipped to Keeneland to take an allowance. The bay ran third in
the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes at Pimlico in mid-May, but failed to place in his last
start before the Sky Classic, the Colonial Turf Cup.

Bred in Great Britain by Fittocks Stud, Forte Dei Marmi is out of the winning
Sadler’s Wells mare Frangy, who has also produced stakes winners Saravain and
Wallis. His second dam, the stakes-placed Shirley Heights mare Fern, is a half-sister to Group 1
victress Shamshir,
and his third dam is the multiple Group 2-scoring Be My Guest mare Free Guest, herself a half-sister
to multiple highweight Royal Ballerina.

Moment of Majesty posted her second upset win in a Woodbine stakes (WEG/Michael Burns Photography) Earlier at Woodbine on Sunday, Moment of Majesty rallied from last to get up in the final strides in the $101,110 Belle Mahone Stakes. Competing in her 19th career start, Moment of Majesty, with Gerry Olguin in the irons, wore down a tough Silent Moon in deep stretch to prevail in the 1 1/16-mile event. Sent off at 11-1, the daughter of Saint Liam unleashed a strong final kick to triumph by a half-length in a time of 1:45 3/5 on the Polytrack.  The 6-5 favorite Juanita, trained by Mike Maker, took command from the start of the two-turn event, cutting early fractions of :25 2/5 and :50 1/5. But she ultimately faded to last in the nine-horse field. Olguin, who piloted Moment of Majesty to victory in June’s Zadracarta Stakes, was able to rouse the five-year-old mare into prime position, sweeping to the outside around the final turn.  “She was relaxed,” Olguin said. “I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me. I give her a lot of respect. I love her.”

Former NHL star goaltender Curtis Joseph, who co-owns with trainer Sue Leslie
and hockey agent Don Meehan, was on hand for the triumph. 

“She ran terrific,” said Joseph, who won 454 career NHL games and a gold
medal with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics. “Gerry rode her perfectly.
Certainly, when you get a filly like this, it’s spectacular. She’s beautiful and
she runs hard every time. She’ll make a fabulous broodmare one day.” 

Moment of Majesty, who won the Zadracarta at odds of 16-1, came into the
Belle Mahone off a strong second-place finish, at 23-1, to the highly-regarded
Marketing Mix in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes on July 8 at Woodbine. 

Moment of Majesty, who paid $24.80, $9.70 and $5.30, sports a 19-4-7-3 mark
and $533,091 in earnings.

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