Wedding Toast Wins! Sat: Grade 1 Beldame

Wedding Toast Wins! Sat: Grade 1 Beldame Sept 23, 2015 21:36:18 GMT -5

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Post by racinggal on Sept 23, 2015 21:36:18 GMT -5

I like Wedding Toast!

Curalina Tackles Elders in Beldame
By Claire Novak,
Blood Horse

Curalina will step up to face older fillies and mares for the first time Sept. 26, taking on five rivals in the $400,000 Beldame Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' 3-year-old daughter of Curlin returns to the track that saw her rise to the top level when she won the one-mile Acorn Stakes (gr. I) there June 6, making a steady climb from maiden winner March 28 at Gulfstream Park to allowance victress May 1 at Churchill Downs to grade I New York success for trainer Todd Pletcher.

MITCHELL: Curalina Wins First Stakes in Acorn

Pletcher holds the record for most wins by a trainer in the Beldame, with victories secured by Ashado, Fleet Indian, Unbridled Belle, Life at Ten, and most recently 3-year-old Princess of Sylmar in 2013.

The 1 1/8-mile Beldame should be a good spot for Curalina to return to her winning ways, and gives her about five weeks until a potential run in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) Oct. 30 at Keeneland. She breaks from the rail under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez and, carrying 120, gets a weight break of three pounds from her elders.

Curalina was elevated to first in the July 26 Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course when bumped by I'm a Chatterbox, but then finished third behind Embellish the Lace and I'm a Chatterbox in the Aug. 22 Alabama Stakes (gr. I) at the Spa going 1 1/4 miles.

BALAN: Curalina Gets CCA Oaks After 'Chatterbox' DQ

The rival with the strongest resume will break from right beside 3-1 second choice Curalina—Godolphin Racing homebred Wedding Toast, who has not started since winning the June 6 Ogden Phipps Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont but is the 6-5 favorite on the Beldame morning line.

"She missed a few works there and we opted not to run her (in the Personal Ensign). We just wanted to get her right," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. "She just wasn't quite 100 percent. No big issues, but we wanted to skip that race and point for here because she loves the Belmont one turn.

"She's doing great and we're looking forward to running her."

The 5-year-old daughter of Street Sense has been working steadily on the all-weather track at Greentree Training Center, including five furlongs in 1:01 flat Sept. 18.

Wedding Toast took the 1 1/16-mile Ogden Phipps by five lengths after romping by four in the May 9 Ruffian Stakes (gr. II) going a mile, also at Belmont. She has won at the Beldame distance, taking the 2013 Comely Stakes (gr. III) and also breaking her maiden over 1 1/8 miles. Jose Lezcano has the mount from post 2.

New York-bred grade III winner Hot Stones seeks her first win at the highest level, coming off an impressive 9 1/4-length victory Aug. 17 in the Saratoga Dew Stakes going 1 1/8 miles. The 5-year-old daughter of Bustin Stones races for trainer Bruce Levine and Roddy Valente, Charles Casale, and Darlene Bilinski.

Also looking to break through at the grade I level is Miller Racing's shipper Call Pat, who won the Aug. 8 Groupie Doll Stakes (gr. III) at Ellis Park for trainer Brad Cox. The 5-year-old Lawyer Ron runner has not raced in New York before and has one prior grade I venture under her girth; a fifth in the Apple Blossom Handicap (gr. I) at Oaklawn Park earlier this year.

Grade III winner and grade I-placed House Rules and recent Summer Colony Stakes winner Catch My Drift complete the field.

Beldame S. (gr. I)

Belmont Park, Saturday, September 26, 2015, Race 5
1 1/8m
Dirt
$400,000
3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
3:06 PM (local)

1 Curalina (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 Todd A. Pletcher
2 Wedding Toast (KY) Jose Lezcano 123 Kiaran P. McLaughlin
3 Hot Stones (NY) Javier Castellano 123 Bruce N. Levine
4 Catch My Drift (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 Chad C. Brown
5 Call Pat (KY) Luis Saez 123 Brad H. Cox
6 House Rules (KY) Junior Alvarado 123 James A. Jerkens

Wedding Toast Wins! Sat: Grade 1 Beldame Sept 26, 2015 20:19:41 GMT -5

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Post by Evelyn on Sept 26, 2015 20:19:41 GMT -5

RG right - again!!

Wedding Toast Romps in Beldame
By Claire Novak
BloodHorse

A decision to skip the Personal Ensign Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course with 5-year-old Wedding Toast proved to be the right call Sept. 26, as Godolphin Racing's Street Sense mare romped wire-to-wire in the $400,000 Beldame Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park. Watch Video

Well-rested and with a solid pattern of works under her belt at Darley's Greentree Training Center, the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee sailed along on an easy lead in the 1 1/8-mile event and drew off to finish in 1:47.67 over a fast surface. Racing on Lasix, she is now 5-for-5 on the Belmont main track.

"(The layoff was) not much of a concern if you saw her worktab," McLaughlin said. "She just had a little foot issue and we had to skip the Personal Ensign and then, thinking about it, we thought this was a better spot anyway because she loves the one turn."

Off alertly to her usual place at the front of the pack while favored at odds of 3-5 in the field of six, Wedding Toast cut opening fractions of :24.11, :47.57, and 1:11.28 under jockey Jose Lezcano when tracked closely by Hot Stones and Curalina.

Maintaining a 1 1/2-length lead up the backstretch, Wedding Toast opened by three lengths as the field turned for home, found more to give and easily distanced sophomore Curalina through a 1:35.21 mile to hold sway while slightly drifting out.

"She broke good and I let her go at her own pace," Lezcano said. "When I asked her in the stretch, she went on and did it easy. I never touched her with the whip or anything."

Curalina, running against elders for the first time, was second by 2 3/4 lengths, while Catch My Drift settled for third five lengths back.

Wedding Toast, who punched her ticket to the Oct. 30 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I), returned $3.30, $2.10, and $2.10 while Curalina brought $3.10 and $2.30 as the 5-2 second choice. Catch My Drift paid $2.80 as Call Pat, House Rules, and Hot Stones completed the order of finish.

"As good form as she's in, she'll be able to handle two turns (in the Breeders' Cup Distaff)," McLaughlin said. "She's won at two turns. But this race was here and it's a grade I, so it worked out well. I don't say it very often, but I asked him (Jose Lezcano) not to give her a hard race if he didn't have to because she looked that good on paper. We have a big race in five weeks. Couldn't have asked for better, it really went perfect."

The dark bay mare was bred in Kentucky by Darley out of the Coronado's Quest mare Golden Sheba, and aced her third win in a row and second consecutive grade I score after taking the June 6 Ogden Phipps Stakes (gr. I) by five lengths over champion Untapable last time out off a May 9 Ruffian Stakes (gr. II) score. The Beldame victory improved her record to 8-2-1 from 12 starts, for earnings of $1,419,956. Among those wins is a grade III score in the 2013 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

According to McLaughlin, Wedding Toast will likely prep for her Breeders' Cup run at Greentree before shipping to Keeneland.

"We're not sure when we're going to go to Kentucky," the trainer said. "She's been training at Greentree on the synthetic and as long as the weather cooperates, we'll probably keep her there. She could go fine on the dirt at Keeneland or here or at (the) Oklahoma (training track at Saratoga), so we've got a lot of options."

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