French import Right One lived up to his name as made a late run from the rear and got up in the last jump to nip Yield Bogey in the $100,000 Jaipur Stakes (gr. III) at Belmont Park July 16 (VIDEO).
The victory was the third in four U.S. starts for Right One, one of two Jaipur starters for trainer Christophe Clement, and one of four winners on the card for jockey Javier Castellano.
A homebred for Ghislaine Head, who bred the gelded son of Anabaa in France along with her husband Alec, Right One was trained in his native country by his owner-breeder’s daughter, Criquette Head-Maarek, before coming to the U.S. at the end of his 2010 campaign. Previous to the Jaipur, Right One took the Island Sun Stakes in his second U.S. start and finished second behind Courageous Cat and Yield Bogey in the Poker Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont June 10.
He has now won five of 20 starts, with four seconds, three thirds, and earnings of $248,974.
“He came to me this winter; he was trained by a very good friend of mine, Criquette Head, and belongs to her mother, Ghislane Head,” said Clement. “I worked for the Heads; I am very close with them and I am delighted to be able to win a grade III for them. He’s never run a bad race since he came to the states. The pace was against us but you cannot change a horse’s style. Perhaps we’ll put him away and wait for the fall.”
The 8-5 favorite, Right One completed the seven furlongs on turf in 1:21.87 and paid $5.40, $3.10, and $2.40. Yield Bogey was worth $4.30 and $3.50 with Evolutionist paying $6.40 for the show spot. Radiohead finished fourth followed by Gantry, Targhee Pass, and Clement’s other Jaipur starter, Nordic Truce. D' Funnybone and Spa City Fever, entered for the main track only, were scratched.
“He’s the kind of horse who needs to cover up and look for a target in the race and finish,” Castellano said. “We thought there might be more speed in the race, but the way it developed today it was kind of slow in the beginning. One thing I really like about the horse is that even though the pace was slow, he still finished very strong. I really liked the way he did it.
"I had to come out a little because I didn’t think I could go through in between horses – inside, on the rail, all the horses were stuck together. The only shot I had was to go around horses, but I think it worked out perfect because when I pulled him outside, he flew.”