We hope all the UK fans out there had a few bucks to win on True Blue Nation yesterday at Belmont Park. Our first 2-year-old starter of 2013 broke her maiden in impressive fashion, hitting the wire over five lengths in front.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, True Blue Nation was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds and St. Elias Stable at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale. She’s by Bluegrass Cat out of Truly Spectacular, and with two University of Kentucky graduates on our team (Shannon Castagnola & Erin Finley), we thought the name True Blue Nation was particularly fitting.

We hope all the UK fans out there had a few bucks to win on True Blue Nation yesterday at Belmont Park. Our first 2-year-old starter of 2013 broke her maiden in impressive fashion, hitting the wire over five lengths in front.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, True Blue Nation was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds and St. Elias Stable at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale. She’s by Bluegrass Cat out of Truly Spectacular, and with two University of Kentucky graduates on our team (Shannon Castagnola & Erin Finley), we thought the name True Blue Nation was particularly fitting.

Off at odds of 17-1 (probably would have been half that if she debuted at Keeneland), True Blue Nation broke like a shot, and went straight to the lead under Jose Lezcano. She steadily edged away on the turn, and drew clear in the stretch.

“We’ve always liked this filly, but I can’t say we expected to put up such a huge effort first time out,” said WPT president Terry Finley. “She broke runnin’ and just kept going. It’s always very exciting to have a nice two-year-old to head to Saratoga with.”

True Blue Nation will likely be seen next in the $150,000 Schulyerville Stakes (G2) run at six furlongs on the dirt on opening day, Friday, July 19 at Saratoga. She’s eligible for a $100,000 bonus if she wins a graded stake at any NYRA track by the end of the year. Click here to read more about the bonus.