Exchange Rate Filly Stays Unbeaten in Belmont's Joseph A. Gimma

Held Accountable | Chelsea Durand

JOSEPH A. GIMMA S., $150,000, BEL, 9-20, (S), 2yo, f, 7f, 1:25.27, ft.
1–#HELD ACCOUNTABLE, 120, f, 2, by Exchange Rate
1st Dam: New Harmony, by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Battle Creek Girl, by His Majesty
3rd Dam: Far Beyond, by Nijinsky II
O/B-Chester & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Philip M. Serpe; J-Luis
Saez. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $133,800. *1/2 to In
Harm's Way (Hook and Ladder), GSP, $196,168; and Strike
Accord (Smart Strike), SP, $263,523.[bullet ad=”sequel-held-accountable-ft-sar-fall”]2–Berning Rose, 120, f, 2, Freud–Peach Flambe, by Flying
Chevron. O/B-Robert D. Rosenthal & Bradford H. Bernstein (NY); T-Dominick L. Schettino. $30,000.
3–Newport Breeze, 120, f, 2, Majestic Warrior–Coy Cat, by Hold
That Tiger. ($50,000 Ylg '16 SARAUG; $100,000 2yo '17
OBSMAR). O-Ryan Exline, Justin Border & Steven Gail Johnson;
B-Crossed Sabres Farm (NY); T-Peter Eurton. $15,000.[bullet ad=”marette-farrell-recommended”][bullet ad=”ricehorse-graduate”]
Margins: 2 1/4, 1 1/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 9.70, 3.10, 1.30.
Also Ran: Pauseforthecause, Miss Mystique, Aunt Babe, Girl's Dance Party, Beaux Arts.

Held Accountable, a first-out winner on the Saratoga turf last month, took to dirt with alacrity, rallying from off the pace to take the New York-bred Joseph A. Gimma S. at Belmont.

Dueling on a quick tempo debuting Aug. 17 at the Spa, the Chester and Mary Broman homebred shook clear strongly in the final furlong to graduate by open lengths. Taking late play to be 9-1 in this initial dirt try, the bay settled in fifth behind modest fractions of :23.31 and :47.13. Rallying in the four path nearing the straightaway, she split horses at the three-sixteenths pole, ran to the lead inside the furlong marker and edged clear from there to register a 2 1/4-length success. Berning Rose was second-best, ahead of heavily favored Newport Breeze.

The victress's unraced dam was bought for $180,000 at the 2008 KEENOV sale by Chester Broman and sold for $20,000 to Mersad Metanovic Bloodstock in foal to Central Banker at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton October sale. She is a half to Wavering Girl (Wavering Monarch), Canadian champion and dam of GISW Military (Danzig), MGSW/GISP Tricky Creek (Clever Trick), MGSW Parade Ground (Kingmambo) and GSWs Parade Leader (Kingmambo) and Speed Dialer (Phone Trick). Second dam Battle Creek Girl is a SP half to Wings of Grace (Key to the Mint), the GSW dam of champion Soaring Softly (Kris S.) whose progeny Manitoulin (Awesome Again) won earlier in the Belmont card, and GISW Plenty of Grace (Roberto). New Harmony is responsible for a yearling colt by Central Banker and foaled a filly by Daredevil this season before being bred to Carpe Diem.

“We were at the starting gate with Mr. Broman and his farm manager Greg and the filly was about to get her gate card,” winning trainer Phil Serpe recalled. “She popped out of the gate and we watched her outwork two of our other 2-year-olds that were pretty nice horses, in hand. We're all looking at each other, asking 'So, why are we running this filly on the turf first time out?' But, she had turf pedigree and we had another filly to run on the dirt. We were very confident today that this filly could do this. You have to be hopeful and we've always thought a lot of this filly. It's just great training for people like the Bromans. They're all well-meant horses and they're very good people to deal with.”

Winning rider Luis Saez added, “The last time she ran, she was a little green running on the turf, but today was a different story. She was rating well and when I had the opportunity put her in the clear, she took off. It was the perfect distance for her. She broke pretty good and everything came together.” Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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