Willy Beaming, Beautiful But Blue provide slight upsets in
New York-bred stakes
Both stakes for New York-bred three-year-olds on Sunday at Belmont Park were
marked by mild upsets with Willy Beamin running past Brigand in the stretch of
the $125,000
Mike Lee
and Beautiful But Blue regaining winning form in the $125,000
Bouwerie
for fillies.
Willy Beamin was quickest from the gate in the Mike Lee but dropped back to
settle in fifth as 1-2 favorite Brigand set opening fractions of :22 3/5 and :45
4/5. Kept inside along the far turn, Willy Beamin raced into third nearing the
top of the stretch, angled outside once straightened away and blew past the
beleaguered pacesetter nearing the sixteenth-pole en route to a four-length
victory.
Backed as the 5-2 second choice, Willy Beamin paid $7, $2.80 and $2.10 for
completing seven furlongs in 1:22 2/5 on the fast dirt.
“It went as the paper read — if they came back to me, I had a chance,”
jockey Mike Luzzi said. “I had a lot of horse turning for home.”
The Mike Lee marked the fourth straight win for Willy Beamin, who was claimed
by his current connections, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. and owner James A. Riccio,
out of an easy score on the Aqueduct main track March 23. After the claim, the
gelded son of Suave won a pair of state-bred races at Belmont — an entry-level
allowance race on May 10 and a second-level optional claimer on June 20 — prior
to the Mike Lee.
“It’s turned out to be a good claim, and I don’t think we’re done yet,
either,” Dutrow said. “When you claim one for $25,000 you hope to be able to win
for $25,000, especially nowadays with the way the money is. He’s been very good
to us so far.”
Although Willy Beamin was soundly beaten in a pair of two-turn races on
Aqueduct’s inner track earlier in his career, Dutrow believes the gelding
deserves another chance to tackle the challenge.
“We’re going to find out if he can win (going to two turns) as his next start
will be at Finger Lakes (in the New York Derby on July 21),” he said. “I didn’t
see any reason why he can’t. He won going a mile (around one turn on the main
track) at Aqueduct. Maybe he didn’t like the inner track (when he was off the
board in two starts).”
Overall, Willy Beamin is 5-0-0 in nine starts. The $75,000 winner’s share of
the Mike Lee purse pushed his career earnings to $219,545.
In the Bouwerie, Beautiful But Blue was away in third and began to reel in
the 3-5 pacesetter Sacred Success as the field entered the far turn. Beautiful
But Blue drew to Sacred Success’ throatlatch with three furlongs to travel, took
command when the favorite capitulated a furlong later, and was kept to task in
the lane by jockey Junior Alvarado as she drew away to a 3 3/4-length victory
over Fiftyfour Forever.
The final time for seven furlongs was 1:23 3/5 with Beautiful But Blue, who
was part of a 5-1 coupled entry, paying $12.60, $6.20 and $3.50.
“A lot depended on the break; there was a lot of speed in the race,” Alvarado
said. “When they opened the gate, she broke well and I got a clear spot outside
where she was comfortable. She did everything pretty much by herself. She pulled
me the whole way. When we turned for home and I asked her, she responded right
away.”
Beautiful But Blue won three straight on dirt beginning in November prior to
her fifth-place finish in the May 2 Thirty Flags overnight stakes on turf at
Belmont.
“She really does have speed, so she’s a little dangerous,” said Tom Bush, who
trains Beautiful But Blue for her breeders, Chester and Mary Broman. “We think
she ran very well on turf (fifth in the Thirty Flags overnight stakes) the other
day. She got away poorly, it was a tough race, and she closed. It was such a
different experience for her. But in all likelihood, we’ll stay on the dirt.”
The El Corredor filly is now 4-0-0 in eight starts and has earned $183,550.
Earlier on Belmont’s Sunday program, Wertheimer and Frere’s homebred Medolina
recorded a 2 1/4-length score in the $90,000
Tweedside Stakes for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Javier Castellano. The
Kentucky-bred daughter of Aragorn ran 1 1/16 miles on the good turf in 1:42 4/5
to remain perfect in three career starts. The sophomore lass, who was making her
first start in this spot since taking an optional claimer in early January, has
now banked $97,500
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