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Jazil jumps up to win Belmont Shadwell Stable's JAZIL (Seeking the Gold) earned his first stakes victory in grand style, closing from last to first to win Saturday's $1 million Belmont S. (G1) by 1 1/4 lengths over Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat). The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee settled the matter with a bold rally on the far turn that carried him to lead at the top of the stretch, but the race was almost over for Jazil at the start when Fernando Jara lost his right stirrup after brushing the starting gate. The 18-year-old jockey never panicked, quickly reaching down to put his boot back in place, and delivered a heady ride the rest of the way aboard the 138th winner of the 1 1/2-mile classic.Breaking from post 8 as the 6-1 fifth choice in the 12-horse field, Jara guided Jazil to the rail and saved ground during the early stages of the race. Bob and John (Seeking the Gold) sprinted to the front after the gates opened and showed the way into the first turn as jockey Garrett Gomez kept the slight 9-2 favorite well off the rail, establishing a very legitimate pace for a 12-furlong race with opening splits in :23 and :47 1/5. High Finance (Talk Is Money) and Deputy Glitters (Deputy Commander) applied pressure to the pacesetter, with Bluegrass Cat also in close attendance, and Jazil loped along in last entering the backstretch, awaiting his cue to strike. The bay colt was maneuvered off the rail midway down the backstretch as the entire field bunched up, and Jazil began to pick off one foe after another while splitting horses as he entered the final turn. Bob and John ran six furlongs in 1:12 and still held a head advantage over High Finance after a mile in 1:37 2/5, but his early exploits had exacted a heavy toll and he began to back out about midway around the final bend. Jazil accelerated quickly to rush up and challenge for the lead, but Bluegrass Cat proved very stubborn to his inside, and these two exited the far turn in a head-to-head battle. However, it was readily apparent that Jazil was going better, with Jara sitting comfortably in the saddle while John Velazquez was in an all-out drive aboard Bluegrass Cat, and Jazil entered the stretch drive with a narrow advantage. Jazil covered 1 1/4 miles in 2:02 3/5 and began to edge away in deep stretch under left-handed encouragement to finish 12 furlongs over the fast track in 2:27 4/5. "The trainer and the owner believed in me," said Jara, who recorded only his second graded stakes win in the United States. "I thought I had the race won after a mile. I lost one of my irons leaving the gate, but it was no problem. I moved at the right time. It's amazing."The winner paid $14.40, $6.70 and $4.70. Bluegrass Cat held gamely to be a clear second, 2 1/4 lengths better than his stablemate Sunriver (Saint Ballado), and returned $6.40 and $4.70 after being sent off a close third choice at 9-2. Sunriver, who was off at 6-1, gave back $6.10. "We had a rough trip with Bluegrass Cat. He lost a lot of ground on the first turn," trainer Todd Pletcher explained. "He never stopped trying. Sunriver had a good trip. He dug in and tried hard. He ran a big race. If it were anyone besides me, I was rooting for Kiaran. He is one of my best friends, a great person, and I am very, very happy for him. I'm disappointed. There is no consolation in second for me." McLaughlin and Pletcher are both former assistants to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Steppenwolfer (Aptitude), the 9-2 second favorite, finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Sunriver in fourth. Next under the wire came Oh So Awesome (Awesome Again), Hemingway's Key (Notebook), Platinum Couple (Tale of the Cat), Bob and John, Sacred Light (Holy Bull), High Finance and Deputy Glitters. Double Galore (Grand Slam) was eased in the final furlong. The exotics paid $92 (exacta), $436 (trifecta) and $1,085 (8-9-2-11 superfecta). The outcome flattered the smashing Kentucky Derby (G1) performance of Barbaro (Dynaformer), who was trailed under the wire at Churchill Downs by Bluegrass Cat, Steppenwolfer and Jazil (dead-heat for fourth), respectively. Those rivals all finished in the top four in the final leg of the Triple Crown.Jazil, who owned only a maiden special weight win in an off-the-turf event at Aqueduct in early December prior to the Belmont, improved his overall record to 8-2-3-0, and the three-year-old has now earned $872,217. He finished second in the Wood Memorial (G1) and entered the Belmont off a five-week freshening after closing from last to dead-heat for fourth in the Kentucky Derby. Bred in Kentucky by Skara Glen Stables, he's out of Grade 2 winner Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister), who finished second in the 1999 Acorn S. (G1) and third in the Mother Goose S. (G1), earning $250,920 from an 8-2-4-2 mark. The 10-year-old mare is out of 1982 Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Blush with Pride (Blushing Groom [Fr]), making her a full sister to Group 3 victor Turnberry Isle (Ire) (Deputy Minister) and a half-sister to Group 2 heroine and Group 1 runner-up Smolensk (Danzig) as well as Group 1 runner-up Maryinsky (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). This is the female family of multiple classic winner El Gran Senor (Northern Dancer), who was a champion in England and Ireland; English and Irish champion Try My Best (Northern Dancer); English, French and Irish highweight Xaar (Zafonic); and Spinning World (Nureyev), who captured the 1997 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) and was highweighted in both France and Ireland. Better Than Honour is also the dam of an unraced juvenile filly named Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), a yearling colt by Mineshaft and a 2006 colt by Giant's Causeway. Shadwell purchased Jazil for $725,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September Yearling sale. "It is very hard to describe my feeling," McLaughlin said following the race. "I want to give thanks to Shadwell and everyone on my team. The people at Shadwell have been my biggest supporters for the last 12 years. Sheikh Hamdan (bin Rashid al Maktoum) has been a big supporter. It's great to win this race for your favorite people."
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