Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez teamed up for two stakes wins
at Hawthorne on Saturday when Sumaya Us Stables’ ISOLA PIU BELLA (Chi) (Rich
Man’s Gold) took the
Sixty Sails H. (G3) by two lengths. Just as in the
nine-furlong National Jockey Club H. (G3) one race prior, Velazquez and his
mount sat off a contested lead before angling wide on the turn for home and
accelerating away from the tiring front runners in the stretch.
Injustice (Lit de Justice) and Uninhibited Song (Unbridled’s
Song) battled for the lead, with the former getting the opening quarter in
:23 1/5 and the half in :46 4/5. Isola Piu Bella stuck a head in front of
Uninhibited Song in second while Injustice still led through six furlongs in
1:11 3/5, but Velazquez and his mare had already begun their closing run. With a
furlong to go in the 1 1/8-mile contest, the Pletcher-trained bay was 1 1/2
lengths clear of the closing Rare Gift (Unbridled’s Song) and began to pull away
from that rival in deep stretch, stopping the clock in 1:49 2/5 for nine good
furlongs. Ghostly Gate (Silver Ghost), who had raced in third on the inside for
much of the contest but was fourth with an eighth to go, fought back in deep
stretch to record her first graded placing. She was just a neck ahead of 9-5
post-time favorite Personal Legend (Awesome Again).
Isola Piu Bella returned $6.80, $3.80 and $3.40 while keying exotics of
$46.80 for the exacta, $251.20 for the trifecta and $1,021.40 for the 6-4-1-5
superfecta. Rare Gift, sent off at 7-1, paid $6.40 and $5.20 for his runner-up
effort while Ghostly Gate’s backers received $6 for the show. Personal Legend
completed the super, followed by Friel’s for Real (Sword Dance [Ire]), Injustice
and Uninhibited Song.
The winner was bred in Chile by Haras Sumaya and was named champion
three-year-old filly in her native land after four Group 1 victories. The
five-year-old previously scored in the Sabin H. (G3) and finished second in the
Rampart H. (G2) from three U.S. starts. Out of the unraced Sweet Music (Inchwood),
she counts Group 2 winner El Sombra (Roy) as a half-brother.