After winning the Belmont Oaks (G1) with favorite Santa Barbara two races earlier, trainer Aidan O'Brien and jockey Ryan Moore completed a Grade 1 double at Belmont Park when Bolshoi Ballet got up to win the $1 million Belmont Derby.
Dispatched as the even-money favorite, Bolshoi Ballet bided his time near the rear of the pack as Hard Love clicked off fractions of 24.61, 51.34 and 1:17.26 on a turf course listed as good. After a mile in 1:41.03, Bolshoi Ballet was angled out for running room at the top of the stretch and commenced to run past the field to earn his first top-level victory by 1 1/4 lengths.
"The ground was probably a little bit slow for him, because he likes quick ground, but he did well at the finish because he had a good gallop and that helped him," T.J. Comerford, O'Brien's assistant, said. "Ideally, he probably wants tougher ground. In fairness to him, his class pulled it out at the end of the day and you have to be happy with it.”
Fellow European invader Tokyo Gold was second followed by Cellist and Du Jour. The final time for 1 1/4-miles was 2:04.42.
“It felt like they were going very slow," Moore said. "This horse, we know he gets the 10 [furlongs] very well. It was a messy race and he won comfortably without being able to show how good he is. We're happy with him. He's the most beautiful horse you'll see. He's a real athlete. He's a class horse.
Bolshoi Ballet is a son of Galileo, who earlier on Saturday had to be euthanized a the age of 23 due to what was described as a "debilitating injury to the left front fore.
A two-time Group 3 winner in Europe, Bolshoi Ballet most recently was seventh as the post-time favorite in the Epsom Derby (G1) on June 21.
This was the second Belmont Derby win for O'Brien and owners Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. John Magnier. They also won in 2016 with Deauville.
