Taking the field (and bettors) by surprise, Gerald and Susan Kresa’s 3-year-old King Kreesa dictated the pace in Saturday’s 64th running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park, and, in a field loaded with many of the nation’s top sophomore turf routers, managed to get the better of all except for fellow longshot King David.
Scratched two weeks ago by trainer Jeremiah Englehart out of the Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park in favor of the tougher spot in the 1 1/8-mile Jamaica, King Kreesa, was partnered on Saturday for the first time with Eddie Castro and deemed a long shot at odds of 23-1.
Typically sharp out of the gate, the King Cugat gelding went straight to the lead from his outside post (of 7) and, when no one offered a direct challenge, proceeded to dictate the pace at the hedge, running an extremely moderate half-mile in 52.29 on the “good” inner turf course, and three-quarters of a mile in 1:18.15.
At the head of the stretch King Kreesa opened up his lead to two lengths, only to feel his first pressure midstretch in the form of a short-lived bid from Graham Motion-trained Howe Great (7-2), who had tracked King Kreesa loosely in second from the get-go. Fellow longshot King David (28-1) loomed a threat in three-wide third, while Summer Front advanced from fourth on the inside.
Still in command with seventy yards to go, King Kreesa denied Summer Front who was in tight at the rail, but was overtaken by King David to his outside, who went on to score the victory by a half length in a final time of 1:52.91. Summer Front finished third, while synthetic specialist and 3-2 favorite Dullahan ran a disappointing fifth 4 1/2 lengths behind the winner, apparently not relishing the give in the turf. The longshot exacta paid $370 for a $2 wager.
King Kreesa’s jockey Eddie Castro made it all sound very simple. “I had a good trip. I got to the front easy,” Castro said. “[Trainer Jeremiah Englehart] told me, ‘Be close to the lead and try the best you can.’ And that’s what we did.”
Winner of two stakes races at Belmont in June by a combined eight lengths (the Spectacular Bid Division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series on June 3 and the open London Company overnight stakes on June 29), King Kreesa also finished a close runner up in the Cab Calloway Division of the series run at Saratoga on August 8. In his previous start he finished a solid fourth in the Grade 3 Saranac at the Spa on September 2, only 1 3/4 lengths behind New York-bred winner Unbridled Command.
The Grade 1 placing in the Jamaica improves King Kreesa’s record to 3-3-0 from 8 starts and increases his earnings to $239,120.
Bred by Horse Partners and foaled at Carlland Stables in Avon, King Kreesa is one of three winners from four foals to start out of Storm’s Advance, a Florida-bred daughter of Storm Creek who was a multiple winner and stakes-placed on turf ($94,652). Her first foal, Zip by You (City Zip), was a multiple winner and $141,706 earner. Currently Storm’s Advance has a yearling filly by Stonesider named Lady Kreesa and a weanling colt by Malibu Moonshine, to whom she was bred back in 2012.
King Kreesa’s sire King Cugat, a multiple Grade 2-winner and millionaire by Kingmambo, stood in New York in 2008 and 2009 under the management of Questroyal Stud.
