No Joy for Postulation in Belmont Derby
The Khalid Abdullah-owned three-year-old was a narrow winner of the Silver Stakes at the Curragh on his penultimate outing, but Pat Smullen’s companion failed to trouble the judge at Belmont Park as Force the Pass emerged a brilliant three-and-three-quarter-length winner.
Successful trainer Alan Goldberg said: “We brought him up here three days ago - he’d never been here before – and he never turned a hair.
“We’ll give him the summer off and look towards the fall before we run him again.”
Outstanding earned a decent chunk of prize-money in America on Saturday as Ballydoyle’s filly finished third in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes.
Colm O’Donoghue’s partner arrived in the USA after having secured back-to-back victories at Naas and ran creditably for Aidan O’Brien in the Grade One over a mile and a quarter.
The daughter of Galileo was, however, no match for odds-on favourite Lady Eli, who held a three-and-a-half-length advantage over Outstanding at the line.
Victorious trainer Chad Brown said: “The term ’breathes different air’ gets thrown around a lot when someone has a very good horse, and I’ve been lucky to have some great turf fillies and mares, but this one ’breathes different air’, for sure.
“She certainly has the most devastating turn of foot I’ve ever worked around.”
