River Belle proves best in Mrs. Revere
It took a picture to decide the winner of Saturday’s $171,150 Mrs. Revere S. (G2)
at Churchill Downs, but in the end the title went
to Team Valor, Heiligbrodt Racing Stable & Green Lantern Stables LLC’s RIVER BELLE (GB) (Lahib). The Todd Pletcher
trainee closed in the final strides in between Lenatareese (Broad
Brush), who finished second on the outside, and Cape Town Lass
(Horse Chestnut [SAf]), third on the rail, to post a nose victory under European
champion jockey Kieren Fallon.
Black Rock Road (Bertrando) set the early pace, leading the pack in fractions of :23 3/5 and :48 1/5,
before Jinny’s Gold (Gold Fever) took over to cross the next two
checkpoints in 1:13 2/5 and 1:38 2/5. River Belle, who had been
sitting just off the pace in fourth, managed to put in a winning run to stop the clock
in the 1
1/16-mile good turf event in 1:44 2/5.
The winner returned $5.20, $3.60 and $3 while keying the $49
exacta as the 8-5 favorite. Lenatareese, who went off at 9-1,
paid $7.60 and $5.40 for her effort, while Cape Town Lass was another nose back and gave $9.80 at 47-1, rounding out the
$923 trifecta. Sister Swank (Skip Away) produced a fourth-place finish and ended
the $2,351.60 superfecta ($1) (2-5-9-10). She was followed by Jinny’s Gold, Black Rock Road, Topango (Distant
View), Casa Nekia (Conquistador Cielo), Sahmkindawonderful (Sahm)
and With Affection (Red Ransom). Family Business (Saint Ballado) was scratched.
River Belle, who captured the Princess Margaret S. (Eng-G3) last year, was
making her fourth start here since crossing the pond. In
her last outing, she earned a close third in the Queen Elizabeth
II Invitational Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland. Her win today improved her to a mark of
8-4-0-2 with earnings of $266,084.
River Belle was bred in England by Mrs. S. Camacho and is out
of the winning mare Dixie Favor (Dixieland Band). She counts
herself as a half-sister to the two-year-old colt Rio Riva (Pivotal).