By Alan Carasso
The white-hot Flavien Prat conjured up one final lunge from distant second favorite Fionn (Twirling Candy) and nabbed long-odds on choice Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) right on the wire to take out Saturday's $500,000 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. It was the fifth victory on the program for the reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey.
Opulent Restraint (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) won the break and stepped away to open a clear lead turning down the back from Totally Justified (Justify) and a three-wide Nitrogen, as Prat settled Fionn in the favorite's slipstream. Continuing to follow Nitrogen's every move around the second turn and passing the quarter pole, Fionn was produced wide into the lane as Opulent Restraint refused to lie down at the fence.
Nitrogen finally managed to put her nose in front of her gray rival inside the final furlong, with Fionn still a couple of lengths adrift, but Prat kept busy on his mount and threw her across the line in 1:44.84, obliterating the 18-year-old track record previously held by Criminologist (Maria's Mon) by 0.75 seconds over a turf course that has been producing fast times over the first three days of the July 4th Festival.
“I had a great trip. She broke well and I was able to follow Nitrogen. Dream trip and she really dug in,” Prat said. “Turning for home, I felt like we would be third, maybe second, and the more I asked the more she gave–great effort.
“When we turned for home, I was riding her, and she wasn't responding much but she swapped leads and leveled off nice. I tapped her a few times with the crop, and she responded at that point. I thought I was making a run, but I didn't know if I was going to go by, but I thought she was making a good run.”
Added co-owner Michael Lee: “It was outstanding. This is my first Grade I winner. George [Messina] and I have been partners for just about two years and we have only owned a few horses, and this was a relatively inexpensive purchase for $75,000 and I just can't believe we are winning a Grade I right now.”
A $75,000 Keeneland September bargain, Fionn improved from a debut second at Horseshoe Indianapolis to break her maiden at Fair Grounds Dec. 16. That heralded the start of a three-race winning streak that concluded with a victory in the Mar. 8 Allen 'Black Cat' LaCombe Memorial Stakes in the Big Easy, and her first meeting with Nitrogen resulted in a sound third in the GII Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland Apr. 8. Last after the opening half-mile of the GIII Regret Stakes at Churchill May 31, Fionn was switched out in upper stretch and drove past Totally Justified in the dying strides.
Pedigree Notes:
Fionn is an 11th Grade I winner for her sire, who also provided GIII Kelso Stakes hero Think Big. She is the 35th Grade I/Group 1 winner produced by a daughter of the legendary Giant's Causeway and is bred on that Candy Ride cross over Storm Cat that has proven so successful over the years.
Bill Shiveley's Dixiana Farms acquired Fionn's dam Gaelic Gold for $275,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale with this filly in utero and the female family is replete with black-type. Gaelic Gold is a daughter of Strike It Rich, herself a Grade III winner on the grass and dam of five winners, including MSW Sea Foam (Medaglia d'Oro) and the stakes-placed Straw Into Gold (Hard Spun). Third dam Belle of Perintown won the 2003 GII Silverbulletday Stakes on the dirt and bred nine winners from 11 runners, including MSW & MGSP Tomlin (Distorted Humor), SW Ari Oakley–a daughter of Gun Runner who is coincidentally bred on the Candy Ride/Giant's Causeway cross–GSP 'TDN Rising Star' and freshman sire Beau Liam (Liam's Map), GSW & GISP Great Stuff (Quality Road) and GSW Coffee In Bed (Curlin).
Gaelic Gold's youngest produce include the 2-year-old colt Essential Storm (Essential Quality), in training at Lone Star Park, a yearling colt by Connect and a colt by Jackie's Warrior foaled Mar. 13.
Saturday, Saratoga
BELMONT OAKS INVITATIONAL S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 7-5, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:44.84, fm.
1–FIONN, 121, f, 3, by Twirling Candy
1st Dam: Gaelic Gold, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Strike It Rich, by Unbridled's Song
3rd Dam: Belle of Perintown, by Dehere
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($75,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-George Messina and Michael Lee; B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-1, $624,270. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Nitrogen, 121, f, 3, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Tiffany Case (SP), by Uncle Mo
2nd Dam: Biblical Point, by Point Given
3rd Dam: Bibical Sense, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
O/B-D. J. Stable, LLC (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $100,000.
3–Opulent Restraint (Ire), 121, f, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Significant Form (MGSW, $817,216),
by Creative Cause
2nd Dam: Church by the Sea, by Harlan's Holiday
3rd Dam: Witness Post, by Gone West
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Stephanie Seymour Brant; B-White Birch Farm Sc (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown. $60,000.
Margins: NO, 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 6.20, 0.40, 19.70.
Also Ran: May Day Ready, Warming, Virgin Colada, Totally Justified.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
It's a photo finish 📸 and a track record 💨⏱️ in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Inv. Stakes!
Fionn ($14.40) and jockey Flavien Prat (5-win day) pull off the upset for trainer @bradcoxracing and owners George Messina & Michael Lee. pic.twitter.com/aTdQG2FuPk
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) July 5, 2025
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