Awesome Patriot

Brilliant last year as a sophomore, Bella Sofia returned a popular winner at Belmont Saturday, but only after hard-knocking MGSW Frank's Rockette tested her for the length of the stretch. Away cleanly from her outside draw, Bella Sofia pressed in a well-held second through splits of :22.67 and :45.68 with Frank's Rockette drafting from the pocket. Bella Sofia took over at the top of the lane, but Frank's Rockette split horses and immediately came to tackle the favorite. The pair traded jabs from there, with Bella Sofia finding slightly more...

Now this, we can all agree, is just what a GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic should look like. Three of the first four in the Derby, albeit not the one that may ultimately be credited as winner. And besides resolving the questions left open by that processional race at Churchill, they must also pick up the gauntlet thrown down by an older horse whose plain running style should leave no stone of merit unturned. A race, in other words, commensurate with the biggest prize of the American Turf, with the...

Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, and Barry Fowler have purchased a minority interest in the GI Longines Test S. winner Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot). The deal was brokered by bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto. Medallion, Parkland, and Fowler join original owners Michael Imperio, Vincent Scuderi, Sofia Soares, Gabrielle Farm, Mazel Stable Partners, and Matthew Mercurio in campaigning the filly, who is trained by Rudy Rodriguez. "Nick Sallusto and I talked after the filly broke her maiden. I felt she was one to keep an eye on," said Medallion Racing's Mark Taylor. "And...

Modestly bred Bella Sofia got the better of the bluebloods Saturday to make the grade in this prestigious event for sophomore fillies. An 11 1/4-length debut romper at Belmont May 6, the dark bay settled for second after showing the way in a competitive running of the Jersey Girl S. downstate a month later. She bounced back, and paired up the 94 Beyer Speed Figure she earned on debut, when crushing first-level allowance foes by 6 1/4 lengths back at Big Sandy July 11. Away on top from her wide...