Constitution’s Patriot Spirit powered home to defeat a contentious field in the $200,000 Vosburgh S. (G3) at the Belmont at the Big A meet on Saturday, Sept. 27. The facile victory provided Patriot Spirit a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.
Owned by George Mellon and trained by Michael Campbell, Patriot Spirit disputed the pace from the outside early in the seven-furlong test. He was asked for his best at the quarter pole, took the lead in upper stretch, and shook clear late to score by 1 ½ lengths over Crazy Mason at the wire. Ridden by Javier Castellano, Patriot Spirit covered the distance in 1:21.84.
“I expected the effort,” said Campbell. “I don’t want to sound like I’m pompous or anything because it is difficult to win a horse race, there is nothing more difficult. On this occasion, in this spot, with this horse being that right, I didn’t think he could get beat.”
Castellano added of the trip, “Not too many horses do that when they go fast at the beginning of the race—they always tend to slow down, but he didn’t. He fought all the way to the end. I like that.”
A four-length winner of the seven-furlong Reigh Count S. on July 26 at Colonial Downs, Patriot Spirit is now a winner in 6-of-15 starts with earnings of $531,210. The Breeders’ Cup-bound Patriot Spirit won last year’s Illinois Derby at Hawthorne and captured the Inaugural S. at Tampa Bay Downs in 2023.
Bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, Patriot Spirit, who is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Game Plan mare Mistical Plan, was a $235,000 purchase by Mellon at the 2023 OBS March Sale. Prior to that trip through the auction ring, the bay colt fetched $95,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale.
