Bellamy Road’s Wood Memorial stands out among century of runnings

Two decades ago, Bellamy Road cruised to a 17 1/2-length victory in the then-Grade 1 Wood Memorial, undoubtedly one of the best performances in the historic race that will celebrate its 100th running on Saturday, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
 
On Saturday, the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, awards 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers. In 2005, there were hopes for Bellamy Road to make “The Run for the Roses,” and he responded with true brilliance at the Big A.
 
“This was one of the biggest wins of my life,” said his Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito. “As far as performances go, I can’t remember better. Commentator was good, War Pass was great in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but this has got to stand out as one of the great performances of all-time, no questions in my mind.” 
 
Bellamy Road was campaigned by Kinsman Stable, the nom de course of the late George Steinbrenner, III, owner of the New York Yankees. The Concerto dark bay was well-regarded but lightly-raced entering the Wood Memorial, having made one start for Zito and as a 3-year-old, a 15 3/4-length allowance romp going one mile at Gulfstream Park. He had a three-start juvenile campaign for conditioner Michael Dickinson that included a Grade 3 Cradle win at River Downs.
 
The 2005 Wood Memorial field included Grade 3 Gotham-winner Survivalist, dual graded stakes-placed Galloping Grocer, the graded stakes-placed pair of Naughty New Yorker and Going Wild, as well as stakes-winners Scrappy T and Pavo.
 
“You hear a lot of this stuff, but he worked at Churchill Downs before the race and one of the clockers, John Nichols, told me that he had never seen a horse breeze that good. I think it was 46 and change, but the rider was just sitting chilly,” Zito recalled. “I’ve got to tell you, he ran back to that and I was so happy.”
 
Piloted by Javier Castellano, Bellamy Road exited post 2 and went to the lead as the Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas-trained joint favorite Going Wild took second position 1 1/2 lengths back through an opening quarter-mile in 23.13 seconds on the fast dirt.
 
Bellamy Road was a half-length in front of Scrappy T through a half-mile in 46.08, extending to 2 1/2 lengths rounding the far turn with little movement from future Hall of Famer Castellano as three-quarter-miles elapsed in a blistering 1:09.84.
 
“When Javier placed him where he placed him, you knew he was just going to go on and do business,” Zito said. “When he hit three quarters in 1:09, I couldn’t believe the cruise control he was in. I said, ‘What is going on here?’”
 
Bellamy Road was by himself at the top of lane, widening his gap effortlessly with every stride to hold a 10-length advantage over Scrappy T at the eighth pole and a large margin back to the rallying Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey-pupil Survivalist in third position.
 
“They’re coming into the final furlong, and this is a dazzling performance by a dazzling 3-year-old,” exclaimed track announcer Tom Durkin. “Bellamy Road, he’s turning the Wood Memorial into an absolute runaway! He’ll just cruise home here!”
 
The race was wrapped up as Bellamy Road held a monstrous lead through one mile in 1:34.41, drawing off to his eye-catching 17 1/2-length victory over Survivalist in a final time of 1:47.16, equaling the track record set by Hall of Famer Riva Ridge in 1973 that stands to this day.
 
“This was so special to me because Mr. Steinbrenner owned him. He had some great children, his daughters are still alive, my good friend Hank passed away, his other son Hal is a principal owner of the Yankees, and his daughter Jessica put him on the phone with me after the race,” said Zito. “He was absolutely bawling, crying, George Steinbrenner. To me, that was pretty special.
 
“We talked about how he won. Mr. Steinbrenner was a historian, too, he knew about great things and he saw something great happen. Let’s face it, his horse won a Grade 1 race by that much, you can imagine. It was just one of the great performances of all time,” Zito added of his third Wood Memorial triumph, following past scores with Thirty Six Red [1990] and Adonis [1999].
 
Bear in mind that even with the impressive time that registered a 120 Beyer Speed Figure, Castellano was far from trying to pour it on late. He can be seen celebrating and riling up the crowd with around a sixteenth remaining. The Equibase chart denotes that Bellamy Road won, “with something left.”
 
“The funny thing about it was that a lot of people were saying, ‘What is he doing?’ He was waving to the crowd,” Zito said, with a laugh. “That was unbelievable. That was special.”
 
Bellamy Road was favored in the Kentucky Derby, where he took a narrow lead at the top of the lane before weakening to seventh in the event upset by 50-1 Giacomo. Bellamy Road popped a splint in defeat and didn’t return to the starting gate until a courageous, pacesetting second to Flower Alley in the 2005 Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course.
 
“He actually got jostled around in the Derby and got hurt in that race, but almost came back with one of the most amazing things: I ran him next in the Travers and he was second,” said Zito.
 
The Travers was Bellamy Road’s final start before entering stud and siring Grade 1 winners including 2011 Wood Memorial-victor Toby’s Corner, dual top-level winning New York-bred Diversify, and Constellation.
 
Today, Bellamy Road enjoys retirement at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, K.Y., whose Kentucky Derby-winning residents include Big Brown, I’ll Have Another and Silver Charm.
 
“In my opinion, when you look at the horses that have won the Wood Memorial, it has to be one of the great races of all time. I’m a traditionalist. I love tradition, and for races to survive, you better remember what happened years ago. The Wood Memorial is a great race,” Zito said.