There’s a lot to love about Romeo in Thursday’s $150K Listed Tremont
Lucky 7 Stables’ Maryland-bred Romeo will test his mettle in Thursday’s $150,000 Listed Tremont, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds on Day Two of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, at Saratoga Race Course.
The Tremont will go as Race 1 on Thursday’s 10-race program which also features the $150,000 Astoria for juvenile fillies in Race 3, along with the Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental for older filles and mares sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs on turf [Race 7], and the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker [Race 9] for older horses going one-mile on the lawn. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 11 a.m.
Trainer John “Jerry” Robb and jockey Xavier Perez, who teamed up to win last year’s Tremont with 13-1 shot Studlydoright, will hope to repeat that result with Romeo from the outermost post 5.
The Honor A. P. colt enters his stakes debut from a 10 1/4-length debut romp over stablemate G Q Worthy in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden sprint on May 3 at Laurel Park. There, he made every pole a winning one under rider Xavier Perez, marking off splits of 23.46 seconds and 46.51 while crossing the wire an emphatic winner under a vigorous hand ride in a final time of 52.55. He earned a field-best 63 Beyer Speed Figure.
Robb said the powerful nature of the performance was a little unexpected.
“I had two in that race, and they worked a head apart each time - never 10 lengths apart - so, it was a bit of a surprise the way he won it,” Robb said. “He pretty much never moved on him. He did it all on his own. It was a fast race, and he did it easy, so that's why we're coming up there to match him up against some better horses and see how he fares.”
Romeo worked back a bullet five-eighths in 1:02 flat on May 24 over the Laurel Park dirt and followed on Friday with a five-panel effort in 1:01.60 over the same surface.
“He worked well this morning. He was with company, but well in hand. He's coming into the race good and we're trying to find out what we have,” Robb said.
Romeo was a $14,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale and was bought privately by Robb’s wife, Gina Robb, following the sale. Romeo is out of the Not For Love mare Fancy Love. His dual graded stakes-winning third dam, Fleet Lady, produced dual Grade 1-winner Midshipman and Grade 2-winner Fast Cookie.
Patricia’s Hope’s Mercilesanihilator [post 4, Jareth Loveberry] will make his stakes bow for trainer Larry Rivelli.
The Audible chestnut showed tenacity in his May 1 debut at Churchill Downs under Jareth Loveberry, dueling for the lead with the Wesley Ward-trained filly Moonlight Beauty through an opening quarter-mile in 22.22 and showing the way through the turn before being met with a host of rivals, including Captain Gabe, who marked the half-mile in 46.02.
Mercilesanihilator dug in gamely to the inside of three rivals down the lane and re-established the lead in the final sixteenth before powering way to a 1 3/4-length score in a final time of 52.59 for 4 1/2-furlongs. He earned a 49 Beyer for the gritty effort.
“Wesley had a filly on the outside that he really liked so we shoved him to the front to not let that horse cross our face,” said Rivelli, who won this event in 2015 with the Patricia’s Hope co-owned Cocked and Loaded. “Turning for home, it looked like we were going to run third and Jareth said he just dug back in and wouldn't let him go by. He's got a pretty nice stride to him.”
Bred in Kentucky by St. Simon Place and Brandon Stocks, Mercilesanihilator is out of the Bodemeister mare Gadabout – a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Blind Date and multiple stakes-winner Sales Tax. He was purchased for $330,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he worked in 10 flat.
"He's a racehorse and he's not going to make anything easy on anyone,” Rivelli said.
Gary Barber and Peter Deutsch's Blinging It Back [post 2, Jose Ortiz] exits the same maiden tilt as Mercilesanihilator, breaking slowly away from the gate and throwing his head while shying away from another rival in an eventful opening that saw him trail in last-of-7.
He soon found his stride under Jose Ortiz and advanced willingly with an outside move into the lane with four rivals to chase. He lugged in on his left lead in the stretch run but switched over and found another gear while surging up the rail to miss second by a head.
“If you want to be impressed, watch him run. He's a maiden, but he's pretty good,” Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said. “It was a pretty impressive run. He's a beautiful moving horse. Once he focuses, he'll be a nice horse.”
Casse said he is not too concerned about the gate issues on debut, noting the Volatile grey worked back a sharp half-mile in 48 flat on May 18 at Churchill.
“It's all just learning. He goes to the gate and stands,” Casse said. “He breezed a really nice half the other day and it went well.”
The $80,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, a half-brother to multiple stakes-winner Ima Discreet Lady [51-15-11-9, $700,670], is out of the multiple stakes-placed Too Much Bling mare Ima Three Blinger.
Rounding out a solid field are the Jorge Delgado-trained filly Mythical [post 3, Emisael Jaramillo], who arrives from an 8 1/2-length score in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden sprint on April 17 at Gulfstream Park; and the Paul McEntee-trained maiden Baytown Dreamer [post 1, Joseph Bealmear].
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