Belmont Derby International Scouting Report: Title Role, Pacific Avenue

More than four months after the Coolmore partners’ Title Role beat Godolphin’s Pacific Avenue in the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas during the Dubai Carnival, the two renew their rivalry in the Belmont Derby (G1) at Saratoga.

Title Role is trained by the father-and-son partnership of Simon and Ed Crisford in Newmarket. Last year, the Crisfords sent over a high-profile Dubai Carnival winner, Choisya, to take the Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland.

Simon Crisford dubbed Title Role a “passport horse” in the Racing Post recap of his victory in the German 2000 Guineas (G2), underscoring his aptitude for international ventures. 

With a new co-owner on board in Will Stroud, Title Role will put his passport away for a while after the Belmont Derby and take up residence with Brendan Walsh.

Pacific Avenue is yet another transatlantic campaigner for Charlie Appleby, who hopes to add the Belmont Derby to his list of North American conquests. The Godolphin trainer will go for a Grade 1 double at the Spa with Abashiri in Saturday’s Belmont Oaks (G1). 

At Meydan in February, there was only a length between Title Role and Pacific Avenue. The Belmont Derby offers a similar scenario of a truly run race around a left-handed track. Those conditions suit Title Role, a sharper type who breaks well. Pacific Avenue can get off a beat slow, but the step up to 1 1/8 miles could benefit the workmanlike colt who also sports European classic form as the third in the Irish 2000 Guineas (G1). 

The overarching question is whether these well-traveled, battle-hardened colts can buck the trend in favor of U.S. runners in this race. Since the Belmont Derby (formerly the Jamaica) took on its summer incarnation in 2014, only two European shippers have won. 

Both Deauville (2016) and Bolshoi Ballet (2021) were Aidan O'Brien trainees coming off unplaced efforts in the Derby (G1) at Epsom. Like Title Role, they were owned by partnerships involving Coolmore.

Both of those European winners came in the typical 1 1/4-mile version of the Belmont Derby at Belmont Park. Thanks to Belmont's redevelopment over the past couple of years, the race has been transferred to other venues and shortened. As a result, it has attracted a different type of European. 

Title Role’s pedigree and background

Bred by Anthony Oppenheimer’s Hascombe & Valiant Stud, Title Role initially sold for about $121,022 as a Tattersalls October yearling. But he commanded $694,673 as a two-year-old in training at the same firm’s Craven Breeze Up Sale. 

Title Role is by Too Darn Hot, one of Dubawi’s champion sons, furthering his legacy at stud. The sire of European champion filly Fallen Angel and Australian champion Broadsiding, Too Darn Hot, is also responsible for Hotazhell, who was fourth as the favorite in last summer’s Saratoga Derby (G1).

Title Role’s dam, the Lemon Drop Kid mare Valiant Girl, prospered stateside and scored her signature wins in the 2013 My Charmer (G3) at Calder and the Omnibus S. at Monmouth Park. She is a full sister to multiple Group 2 scorer Bronze Cannon and to the prolific broodmare Crimson Ribbon, dam of 2023 Gold Cup (G1) star Courage Mon Ami, among others. 

Title Role was ready to debut just about a month after the Craven sale. Favored in a six-furlong maiden at Newbury, he broke alertly to attend the pace and just got outdueled by Humidity on the head bob. Humidity went on to capture the Chesham S. at Royal Ascot and finished the season as runner-up to superstar Bow Echo in the Royal Lodge (G2), beating Action and Pacific Avenue.

Subsequently picking up “a little niggle,” as Ed Crisford told NYRA publicity, Title Role was not seen again until the fall. 

“Sometimes that forced break does the horse a world of good, and he’s done extremely well since.”

Odds-on when resuming over Kempton’s right-handed Polytrack, Title Role romped in front-running fashion going seven furlongs. He accelerated his final quarter in :22.43 and posted a final time nearly 2 1/2 seconds faster than the other division.

Title Role’s Guineas double in Dubai and Germany

Kempton was designed to set him up for his main aim, the Dubai Carnival. In his Meydan premiere, Title Role was marooned in the far outside post 15 in a seven-furlong conditions race. He again broke smartly and showed tactical speed, but still got parked wide without cover for the duration, and wound up a close third. While a better post would have helped, he shaped like a colt who wanted a mile. 

Title Role promptly won his next two over a metric mile at Meydan, the Jan. 30 Jumeirah Guineas Trial and the Feb. 28 main event against stronger opposition. In the Trial, he broke from the outside post 10, overraced a tad before finding cover, then picked up well in the stretch.

In the Jumeirah Guineas, Title Role had the right combination of qualities to beat Appleby’s duo, the odds-on Talk of New York and Pacific Avenue. Anchored off a strong pace, Title Role used his superior turn of foot to outkick Pacific Avenue. 

But Title Role made his experience count to get the jump on Talk of New York, whose learning curve was evident in his second career start. Talk of New York has since blossomed back in England, most recently finishing third to Bow Echo and Gstaad in the St James’s Palace (G1).

Title Role regressed in his first start back home in the Greenham (G3) at Newbury. Dropping back to seven furlongs on a straightaway, he didn’t switch off when racing in a forward position on the wing, and he faded to fifth. 

Earmarked for the German 2000 Guineas, Title Role justified favoritism back up to a metric mile at right-handed Cologne. He enjoyed a better race flow, working out a ground-saving trip off the pace, angling into a seam, and launching a determined rally. Title Role drifted out across the path of the eventual third Loucas, prompting a stewards’ inquiry but no change.

Title Role has managed to draw the outside post at Saratoga as he tended to do in Dubai, but he figures to secure a good early position with Hall of Famer John Velazquez. 

“He’s just a very straightforward individual and likes turning tracks, especially over quickish ground, as he’s the sort of horse who’s quite nimble and well-balanced,” Ed Crisford told NYRA publicity.

“We didn’t really feel like there was anything for him at (Royal) Ascot, so we made the Belmont Derby the aim. He breaks well, you can put him in any position, and I think the extra furlong will suit him very well. Ryan (Moore) thought when he won the Jumeirah Guineas on him that he would definitely be staying in time. He should have a chance to get a good breather around the bend, kick off the bend turning into the straight, and then see if he’s good enough.

“We always liked the horse, and he suits the American style of racing. I expect it to be a decent enough race, and I know Charlie is bringing Pacific Avenue in there, who ran well in the Irish Guineas. From what we’ve done and if he runs his best form, he’ll be in the mix.”

Pacific Avenue’s pedigree and background

Pacific Avenue is a full brother to Group 3 scorer Highland Avenue and a half to Silver Lady, a Group 2 winner in Dubai. Both siblings improved with age, suggesting that Pacific Avenue has scope for further development.

By Dubawi, whose progeny likewise excel with maturity, the homebred is out of top British juvenile filly Lumiere. Her most significant victory came in the 2015 Cheveley Park (G1), but Lumiere’s full sister, Sheikha Reika, stayed further as the heroine of the 2018 E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine.

Pacific Avenue was the apparent second-stringer when dispatched at 9-1 on debut at Newmarket, but he surprised odds-on stablemate Wild Desert. His effort was worthy of the “TDN Rising Star” designation from Thoroughbred Daily News. 

To be fair, Wild Desert had a troubled trip awaiting room, and he was also conceding six pounds as an impressive winner of his prior start. Yet Pacific Avenue showed an excellent attitude to attend the pace and keep finding to hold off Wild Desert. Moreover, they pulled four lengths clear of the early pacesetter, who faded to third. 

Wild Desert went on to place third in the Superlative (G2) over the same course and seven-furlong distance. Shipped to Woodbine for the Summer (G1), he rallied for a near-miss second as the favorite.

Pacific Avenue almost followed up in the Solario (G3), despite a challenging trip on soft ground. Off a beat slow and constantly ridden along to maintain position, he bravely worked his way to the front, only to weaken late in the stiff finish. He wound up fourth in a four-way tussle, beaten a grand total of a half-length. 

In the Royal Lodge over Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, Pacific Avenue put himself in a tracking position and traveled better in the initial stages. But he churned on rather than quickening and checked in a one-paced fourth, well adrift of Bow Echo. He was also beaten much further by runner-up Humidity (who had been among the Solario quartet). Pacific Avenue fared even worse next time in the Dewhurst (G1), striding forward on the far side but retreating to seventh.

Pacific Avenue helped by cheekpieces

Pacific Avenue added cheekpieces when next seen in Qatar, where he rebounded in a Dec. 20 conditions race at Doha. Last in the compact field early, he had the luxury of time to wind up down the stretch and impose his authority at a metric mile. 

Not as lucky when returning to the same course and distance for the Al Rayyan Mile Cup, Pacific Avenue was buried in traffic on the inside. He responded once seeing a sliver of daylight, but had to settle for a close third to August George (whom he had beaten in the local prep) and Joseph O’Brien’s useful yardstick, Andab. 

Pacific Avenue ran another honest race in defeat in the Jumeirah Guineas at Meydan. Needing to be stoked up earlier than the push-button Title Role, he made a strong move in the stretch but couldn’t contain Title Role’s late surge. Pacific Avenue nevertheless stayed on resolutely and edged his hotpot stablemate, Talk of New York, for second. 

Odds-on to regain the winning thread in a conditions race at Goodwood, Pacific Avenue was not seen to best effect in a tactical four-runner affair. The gray took up a handy position but got outkicked by Protection Act, who holds an early entry in the course-and-distance Sussex (G1).

Pacific Avenue was dismissed at 40-1 on the class hike in the Irish 2000 Guineas, but he exceeded expectations. Breaking slowly and reserved farther back than planned, he kept grinding for third to Gstaad and fellow Appleby pupil Distant Storm in stakes-record time at the Curragh. The traffic-compromised sixth, Thesecretadversary, has since come back to win the Jersey (G3) at Royal Ascot. 

If Pacific Avenue doesn’t break quickly at the Spa, he might not have enough time to gather momentum around a turning course. But he’s become consistent since donning the cheekpieces, and he should appreciate the step up in distance.