July 4 may be an American holiday to commemorate the gaining of independence from England, but at Saratoga Race Course it was the Brits' day to celebrate.
Title Role shipped in from overseas and held off United States runner West End Kid by a slim nose to capture the $750,000 Belmont Derby (G1T) for 3-year-olds on America's 250th birthday.
"July 4th is a huge day and it's fantastic. I'll be celebrating with everyone," said British-born Ed Crisford, who trains Title Role along with his father, Simon.
Title Role, owned by Will Stroud and the Coolmore partners, extended his reputation as a top miler in the 1 1/8-mile Belmont Derby as he won beyond a mile for the first time. It may have been the narrowest of victories, but it was a victory nonetheless.
"That last furlong, he was treading water but he's a super tough horse. He really suits these turning tracks," Ed Crisford said. "We thought this horse would particularly like two turns around here. Physically, he's very nimble and well balanced. We thought it would well suit him. A lot of the European tracks are galloping, straight miles. He has this really good, sort of an electric turn of foot. That's why we came here."
Not that the son of Too Darn Hot was a middling runner overseas. He came into the Belmont Derby with wins in both the German Two Thousand Guineas (G2) at Cologne and the Jumeirah Two Thousand Guineas in Dubai. Both races were at a mile.
"I thought he would stay," Crisford said about Saturday's added distance. "It's only an extra furlong and a lot of jockeys had said it wouldn't be a problem."
Speaking of trouble, runner-up West End Kid had his fair share, starting with having the wrong saddle placed on him. There was a mix-up with the saddles for West End Kid (saddle cloth 8) and Tiernanogue (7) and both horses had to be unsaddled and resaddled and weights adjusted, leading to a 10-minute delay that did not sit well with West End Kid.
"He got pretty upset at that and it all spiraled into a short post parade as they pretty much went straight to the gate. Then he was pretty keen on the first turn and down the backside," trainer William Walden said. "To then hang on that left lead the whole way down the stretch and still be gaining. He ran a hell of a race. He's a super talented colt."
The hard-luck loss snapped a three-race winning streak for West End Kid, who captured the Pennine Ridge Stakes (G3T) in his previous start.
Touch of Fire set the early fractions of :23.65 and :49.20 in the Belmont Derby, with Title Role and John Velazquez second. Title Role grabbed the lead in upper stretch as West End Kid and 3-2 favorite Remember Mamba charged at him late but could not catch him.
West End Kid, a son of Twirling Candy owned by Mo Speed Racing, was second by a neck over C R K Stable's Remember Mamba, a Kitten's Joy colt trained by Cherie DeVaux.
Title Role ($16.68), bred by Hascombe and Valiant Stud, covered the mile and an eighth in 1:47.55 on firm turf.
Crisford said the 3-year-old will remain at the Spa but was uncertain of the colt's next race.
