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Pick Pony | Sept. 2, 2024, 3:25 p.m.
Three months ago, a colt named Bellum Justum (IRE) was nowhere in the prestigious Epsom Derby, one of the biggest races on England’s racing calendar. He was seventh that day in the field of 16, beaten 13 ¼ lengths by the dominating City of Troy.
The 3-year-old colt, trained by Andrew Balding and owned by King Power Racing Co., showed what he was all about Saturday when he won Kentucky Downs’ Grade 3, $3.1 million DK Horse Nashville Derby as the favorite.
He went from an also-ran in the Epsom Derby to a horse with an unlimited future.
“This horse was, perhaps, a notch below the top tier (in Europe),” Adrian Beaumont of the International Racing Bureau, said. “This race puts him top tier.”
Sunday morning, Bellum Justum was feeling the love from Maddy O’Meara, Balding’s assistant who traveled to the U.S. with the horse. She fed him an apple, hugged him and let him know how special he is following his 2 ¼-length win.
“He is a good horse, we think highly of him,” said the 31-year-old O’Meara, who has been working with Balding for the better part of the last dozen years. “We thought this was perfect for him and he should do it. And he did.”
He was ridden for the first time by Frankie Dettori, who ended Saturday with three wins on the card. Dettori said after the race that Bellum Justum “flubbed” the start, but O’Meara said that was not a bad thing.
“Probably a half second slow,” O’Meara said. “It gave him cover and he settled, so I think it was probably a good thing. He could have been a little keen in front, so I think it played in his favor.”
The Nashville was the first victory for Bellum Justum, a son of Sea the Stars (IRE), who was bred in Ireland by Rabbah Bloodstock Limited, since April when he won the Epsom Derby Trial.
In his two starts after that, he was third in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes at Ascot and second in the Group 3 John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes at Goodwood. He was beaten just a neck in the Gordon Stakes, and that performance convinced the trainer and owner to put Bellum Justum on a flight to America.
O’Meara was supposed to go to a wedding in England Saturday for one of her best friends. Balding, who was at the wedding, said O’Meara had to skip the festivities and come across the pond.
Suffice it to say, the sting of missing the nuptials was dulled when O’Meara watched Bellum Justum glide over the Kentucky Downs course. She said the festivities at the wedding stopped long enough for everyone to watch the race.
O’Meara has traveled all over the world with horses from the Balding barn. She said she has traveled with “dozens” of them to the United States. Bellum Justum was the first to win.
Bellum Justum will return to England on Thursday, O’Meara said. It will be up to Balding and the owners as to where he will be seen next.
Because he is not a Kentucky-bred, Bellum Justum was not eligible for the full winner’s share, but the connections still pocketed a cool $1,054,310 from the base purse of $1.9 million.
More and more European horses have come to take a swing at the big purses at Kentucky Downs, and why would they not?
“We don’t mind,” O’Meara said with a laugh about taking the money. “The purses are so big and if you have a horse that qualifies to run here, you would be silly not to give it a go, wouldn’t you?”