Luther pictured in his barn at Saratoga (Credit: Tattersalls)

Charlie Fellowes trained Luther awarded Hall Of Fame Stakes at Saratoga

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat August 02, 2025 · 5M ago

Luther, trained by Charlie Fellowes, was awarded the Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on Friday.

Zulu Kingdom had crossed the line with a length and a half to spare in the Grade 2 but the 4/5 favourite was demoted to fourth by the stewards.

The three stewards ruled that Zulu Kingdom, racing two or three off the rail, drifted in on the first turn causing interference which led to fourth past the post Tiz Dashing giving Luther a bump leading Joel Rosario to snatch up his mount; Rosario duly filed an objection and the amended result followed.

Rosario said he had fears Luther was about to fall after he was bumped.

"It looked like (Zulu Kingdom) dropped in. There was another horse on the outside of me, so when he dropped over there, there was no room after that," Rosario said. "I thought for a second my horse was going down. There was no room in there. He got out of there, put it all together, and ran a good race after that."

Stuart Ritchie, the traveling lad for Fellowes, told bloodhorse.com: "I didn't know it was an objection because I am not from here and I didn't hear anything,"

"Then a friend came over and said, 'You'll win it. You'll win it because (Zulu Kingdom) came straight over and (Luther) nearly went down.' I thought 'Oh no, I am taking a broken horse home. The boss will kill me."

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Watching on from home Fellowes was similarly taken by surprise, saying: "I'm a bit confused to how we won it, if I'm completely honest. I don't know what just happened, but I'm shocked.

"I was watching here from home and it was difficult to see exactly what happened, but I could see that it was a really messy race and my fella got carved up a little early on, then rushed up into position. He really ran an unbelievable race to finish second, considering all of that. Had he had a smooth trip, jumped out well, and maintained a position behind the lead, he would have legitimately won it on his own."

The stewards later released a statement saying: "The stewards were of the view that Zulu Kingdom shifted left, leaving insufficient room on its inside, resulting in Tiz Dashing having to take back for a number of strides and carried left into the path of Luther, who made contact with the running rail for numerous strides and caused the rider to check sharply, losing significant momentum and resulted in Luther losing its racing position into the first turn."

For Fellowes, this time a disqualification worked out well for him.

"I lost a big race, the biggest of my career, earlier this year when my filly Shes Perfect was demoted from the win in the French Guineas, so I know firsthand it's not the way you want to win a race," he said.

"I feel really bad for the connections of the winner, as it's a bad way to win (for us) and a very tough loss for them. But I'm unbelievably proud of my horse and how well he ran."

Jockey Flavien Prat on Zulu Kingdom saw it differently, maintaining the problem was caused by two horses behind him vying for a spot where there was room for only one horse.

"Two horses were battling for the same spot and I got blamed for it," he said.

Luther was making his second United States start after finishing third in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes.

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