Intricate Spirit wires Paradise Creek Stakes after blinkers change
Blinkers and a positive ride turned Intricate Spirit loose at Belmont at the Big A, and the 2/1 favorite dominated the Paradise Creek by 3 1/4 lengths.
Intricate Spirit found the right gear as soon as Miguel Clement sharpened the plan. With blinkers on and Manuel Franco sent to the front, the Complexity gelding broke sharply from post 3 and made every step count in a gate-to-wire win in the $150,000 Paradise Creek Stakes at Belmont at the Big A.
The 3-year-old handled six furlongs on the outer turf in 1:11.24, winning by 3 1/4 lengths over Capanaparo, with Chasing Freedom another neck back in third. The race, run as Race 7 on May 23, 2026, drew nine starters and came over good turf after steady rain, with the rail set at 36 feet. Intricate Spirit, who went off as the 2/1 favorite, earned $94,500 for the victory.
What mattered most was not just the margin, but the method. Clement had seen enough from the colt’s uneven 3-year-old campaign to know that a hold-up trip was not bringing out his best. Intricate Spirit had been third in the Texas Glitter at Gulfstream Park and ninth in the Palisades at Keeneland before this rebound, and Clement’s answer was to make him aggressive early. Franco cleared the inside horses, controlled the first quarter in :23.02, settled through the half in :47.16 and still had enough left to finish strongly when the pressure arrived.
That kind of efficiency carries real weight for the rest of the season. Intricate Spirit had already flashed stakes quality when he won the Grade 3 Futurity last fall at the same course and distance, a victory that made him part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In pathway to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Saturday’s result suggested that performance was no fluke. It pointed instead to a colt whose best weapon may be a sharp break, a forward ride and a turf sprint that rewards speed before rivals can organize a challenge.
For bettors and horsemen, that is the key takeaway. The Paradise Creek did not just restore confidence after Keeneland; it clarified how Intricate Spirit wants to run. Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables LLC, Kenneth G. Beitz and Gail P. Beitz, and bred in Kentucky by Ben Henley, Rebekah Henley and Jim Gray, the colt is by Complexity out of Dottie’s Spirit by Curlin. With a winner’s profile like this, he looks like a turf sprinter whose next stakes attempt will deserve serious attention.
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