Havre de Grace sets sights on Beldame; Ask the Moon to head
west
Less than 12 hours after her impressive victory over the boys in Saturday’s
Woodward S. (G1) at Saratoga, HAVRE DE GRACE (Saint Liam) was on the road back
to trainer Larry Jones’ base at Delaware Park.
“We left early to beat the traffic, and the trip was fine,” Jones said after
their arrival late Sunday morning. “She came out of the race well, and
everything is good.”
Jones and owner Rick Porter have the $300,000 Beldame S. (G1) at Belmont Park
on October 1 penciled in for the four-year-old filly’s next start as she points
toward either the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) or the Breeders’ Cup
Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs in November.
“More than likely it will be the Beldame, depending on the next couple of
days,” said Jones, who celebrated Havre de Grace’s victory with a trip to Boston
Market for take-out. “But she came out of the race very, very well.”
Her prospective Beldame rivals don’t include ASK THE MOON (Malibu Moon),
winner of Saturday’s Personal Ensign S. (G1). Instead, trainer Marty Wolfson is
planning to ship to Santa Anita for the October 1 Lady’s Secret S. (G1), where
she would confront Havre de Grace’s archrival Blind Luck (Pollard’s Vision).
Wolfson explained that Ask the Moon won’t go to the Beldame, going 1 1/8
miles around one turn, because he believes the six-year-old prefers two-turn
races.
The $75,000 claim by Farnsworth Stables came to Saratoga this summer and won
two Grade 1 races over a route of ground, the Personal Ensign and the Ruffian
(G1).
“I’m pleased but not surprised,” Wolfson said. “I’ve been very high on this
(mare).”
Ultimately Ask the Moon will aim for the Breeders’ Cup and then be sold in
the November Breeding Stock Sale at Keeneland.
“That’s been the plan all along,” Wolfson said.