Label too good to Check in Garden City

Check the Label made light of both the yielding ground and a traffic jam on the far turn (Ross Woodson/Horsephotos.com) Although CHECK THE LABEL (Stormin Fever) was sporting new silks for Saturday’s $240,000 Garden City S. (G1) at Belmont Park, it was otherwise business as usual for the even-money favorite, who extended her winning streak to four. Making her first start for Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables, the Graham Motion trainee altered course to the outside turning for home and stamped her authority in midstretch with a minimum of fuss. Check the Label was patiently ridden by Ramon Dominguez, allowed to lope along in last, while an eager Queen of the Creek (Theatrical [Ire]) dictated splits of :23 1/5 and :47 4/5. As the leader reached the six-furlong mark in 1:13, Check the Label was already advancing along the inside, but she found her path blocked by a wall of horses as the field bunched up on the far turn, and she had to tap on the brakes. Check the Label had managed to weave her way through in her past two starts, the May 31 Sands Point S. (G2) over this same course and the July 17 Virginia Oaks (G3) last time at Colonial Downs. This time, however, Dominguez opted to swing her to the outside for clear running room and avoid all of the traffic. Meanwhile, a pair of 21-1 longshots in Gitchee Goomie (City Zip) and Persuading (Broken Vow) had rolled right on by Queen of the Creek entering the stretch. Gitchee Goomie was moving the better of the two and threatened to pull a shocker, but by that point, Check the Label was striking top gear. Rallying to take command, the fans’ choice overhauled Gitchee Goomie and edged away.

Then the late-running Snow Top Mountain (Najran) arrived on the scene and
made Dominguez give Check the Label a crack of the whip to stay focused. The
winner held Snow Top Mountain at bay by three-quarters of a length, slogging
through 1 1/8 miles on the yielding inner turf in 1:51 2/5.

“On soft ground like this, it’s very difficult to make up that kind of
ground, and she just overcame all the trouble,” Dominguez said. “She showed that
she’s a nice filly. She gave me a great kick — really, it’s hard to appreciate
how much I had to take away from her. For any horse it would have been a perfect
excuse not to finish up after that because of all the run that I took away from
her, but she was there for me.”

“I have a lot of confidence in this filly,” Motion said. “I thought she would
handle the going; she’s handled just about everything thrown at her. Ramon had
to steady her coming out of the turn; once again he was impressed with how she
is able to get herself out of trouble. She’s got such a tremendous turn of foot
she can get herself out of almost any situation. That’s part of what makes her
special. The Jacksons and I will discuss what’s next for her; we’ll look at the
Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup ([G1] at Keeneland on October 16).”

Check the Label returned $4, $2.70 and $2.10 while keying the $18.40 exacta,
$108.50 trifecta and $898 superfecta (1-7-2-3). Snow Top Mountain, who was
crossing the wire in second for the fifth straight time, gave back $5.50 and
$3.70 as the 7-1 fourth choice. Gitchee Goomie held third, another length back,
and paid $4.50. Fellow longshot Persuading reported home another 2 3/4 lengths
astern in fourth. Queen of the Creek tired to fifth, followed by early stalkers
Negligee (Northern Afleet) and Triple Cream (Tapit). No Explaining (Ire) (Azamour
[Ire]) was scratched.

Acquired by the Jacksons from breeder Brereton C. Jones following the
Virginia Oaks, Check the Label now sports a mark of 13-6-2-1, $491,227. The dark
bay sophomore has spent most of her career on the grass, expressing a clear
preference for that surface. Following her 3 1/2-length maiden score over a mile
on the Colonial lawn, she made her stakes debut in the Junior Champion S., but
she failed to put her best foot forward when the race was transferred to the
sloppy Monmouth main track and wound up fourth. She eventually got the chance to
run in a turf stakes in the final start of her juvenile campaign, rallying for
second in the Caressing H. at Churchill Downs.

Check the Label was again adversely affected by a stakes being rained off the
turf in her sophomore debut, the Sweetest Chant S. at Gulfstream, where she
checked in a distant third. Back on the grass for her next two, she finished a
closing second in the Coconut Grove S. and fourth in the Herecomesthebride S.
(G3) before breaking through in the Appalachian S. (G3) at Keeneland by three
parts of a length. She overcame trouble in the stretch to register a 1
1/2-length victory in the aforementioned Sands Point, and again had to maneuver
en route to her 2 3/4-length decision in the Virginia Oaks.

The Kentucky-bred is out of the unraced Mazel Trick mare Don’t Trick Her,
making her a half-sister to stakes queen On the Menu (Canadian Frontier); a
juvenile filly named Include Me Out (Include), who was promoted to fifth in her
August 29 debut at Del Mar; an unnamed yearling colt by Include; and a 2010
filly by Divine Park.

Check the Label hails from the immediate family of millionaire Sweet Talker,
also by Stormin Fever, who scored her biggest career triumph over Keeneland’s
turf in the 2005 Queen Elizabeth II Invitational Challenge Cup. Check the
Label’s fourth dam is the influential producer *Nato II (*Court Martial),
ancestress of such noted performers as Quack (T. V. Lark), It’s Freezing (T. V.
Commercial), Flemensfirth (Alleged) and Wild Rush (Wild Again).