Shibboleth Zips to Victory in Jaipur Handicap

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Juddmonte Farms homebred Shibboleth jumped out to an early lead from the far outside post position under Jerry Bailey and never looked back en route to a two-length victory in Monday's Jaipur Handicap (gr. III) at Belmont Park.

The 5-year-old son of Danzig trained by Bobby Frankel zipped through fractions of :22, :44.3, and 1:08 for the first three quarters of a mile and stopped the timer in 1:20.08 for the seven furlongs on grass, one-fifth of a second slower than the course record.

Malabar Gold, the 6-5 favorite who tracked the 7-5 winner all the way, finished two lengths back in second, followed by Cozzy Corner. Shibboleth paid $4.90, $2.70, and $2.40; Malabar Gold was worth $2.60 and $2.40, and Cozzy Corner paid $4.80 to show.

The victory was the first in three starts in North America for Shibboleth, who has been lightly raced. The horse began his career as a 3-year-old with consecutive victories at Newmarket, England before finishing a close-up fourth in the group I St. James's Palace Stakes victory of Giant's Causeway while trained by Henry Cecil. Out of competition for 11 months, Shibboleth returned with another win in conditioned stake company at Newmarket. Unplaced in the group II Queen Anne Stakes, Shibboleth returned to Newmarket for his fourth win at that track when he won the Criterion Stakes (Eng-III). After an unplaced effort in the group I July Cup at Newmarket, Shibboleth returned to the U.S. to campaign. In his first North American effort, Shibboleth was second in allowance company at a mile on turf. Previous to the Jaipur, Shibboleth made his main track debut, finishing last in the Carter Handicap (gr. I).

(Chart, Equibase)

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