Rightly So rushed up to seize the early lead and called upon
all of her courage in the final sixteenth of a mile to narrowly win the Grade
3, $150,000 Bed o’ Roses Handicap Monday at Belmont Park.
Seeking her first graded stakes victory, Rightly So grabbed
the lead a furlong into the race as the favorite Qualia was maneuvered off the
rail to track in second. Rightly So was joined to the outside by Qualia
following a half in 44.99, and the two proceeded to battle down the stretch,
with the pacesetter holding on to prevail by a head.
“She always runs big, but today she wanted to go fast,” said
winning jockey Cornelio Velasquez. “The track is fast, too, but I had a lot of
horse at the top of the stretch and she finished well.”
The 7-2 second choice in the field of eight, Rightly So
returned $9.40 for a winning $2 wager and covered the distance in 1:22.44.
“She’s unbelievable – there’s no stopping her,” said
Elizabeth Currey, assistant to winning trainer Tony Dutrow, who won this race
in 2009 with Seattle Smooth. “She’s all racehorse.”
McVictory finished 3 ¼ lengths behind the winner in third
and was 1 ¼ lengths clear of Lady Alexander in fourth. My Dinah, Amazing, and
Devil by Design completed the order of finish. Nicksappealinglady was eased in
the stretch.
Rightly So improved her record to 6-3-1 from 10 starts and
has earned $330,050 to date for owner Zayat Stables. A daughter of Read the
Footnotes, Rightly So was bred in New
York by Sequel Stallions.
The Bed O’ Roses was the third stakes triumph for Rightly
So, who had previously won a pair of stakes against state-breds and was
entering this spot off a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Vagrancy at Belmont on May 29.
Rightly So’s victory in the Bed o’ Roses gave New York-breds
a sweep of the graded stakes at Belmont
over the holiday weekend as she followed the example set by Haynesfield in the
Grade 2 Suburban on Saturday and Franny Freud in the Grade 1 Prioress on
Sunday.
A rematch between Rightly So and Qualia could happen in the
Grade 1 Ballerina on August 28 as both Dutrow and Bobby Ribaudo, who trains the
second-place finisher, indicated they will consider that seven-furlong race for
fillies and mares at Saratoga.
“She ran well, just got beat by a nice horse,” said Ribaudo
of Qualia. “She showed she belonged. We’ll see what this takes out of her and
if everything is well, look forward to the Ballerina at Saratoga.”