Stopchargingmaria in soft Beldame; Palace tops Vosburgh

Stopchargingmaria in soft
Beldame; Palace tops Vosburgh

Stopchargingamaria enters the Beldame on a three-race win streak (Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club) Rather than take on divisional standout Untapable in last week’s $1 million Cotillion in Philadelphia, trainer Todd Pletcher withdrew his three-year-old filly Stopchargingmaria in favor of Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame at Belmont Park. The move might prove to be a wise one as the 1 1/8-mile Beldame, without the presence of the nation’s leading older mare Close Hatches, came up soft this year. Avoiding Untapable has paid huge dividends for Stopchargingmaria, who has reeled off three straight wins in Black-Eyed Susan, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Alabama. However, two of those wins were narrow, and the step up to face older fillies and mares might prove stiff despite the lack of a standout representative from that division. “One thing we were looking at with the Beldame was the fact that she does run very well fresh,” Pletcher said. “The extra week might have been a little bit of a difference, but also the mile and an eighth suits her well. She has three wins at a mile and an eighth and now a mile and a quarter win. It seems like she appreciates a little time between races, but she also seems to like the added distance, as well.”

Fiftyshadesofhay, also a Black-Eyed Susan winner, has the talent but is
inconsistent. The Bob Baffert trainee scored in the one-mile Ruffian at Belmont
in May and finished a distant second to Close Hatches in the Personal Ensign at
Saratoga last time, but did not fare well in races like Fleur de Lis Handicap
and Santa Margarita earlier in the year.

Belle Gallantey, who upset the now-retired Princess of Sylmar in the Delaware
Handicap over 1 1/4-mile two back, could be the controlling speed if she takes
the initiative. She did not do so in the August 22 Personal Ensign, with the
result being a defeat of more than 25 lengths.

“I don’t think she liked the track,” said trainer Rudy Rodriguez said of the
Personal Ensign, which was run in the slop. “The track was kind of hard that day
and she was hitting the ground pretty hard. I’m just going to draw a line
through it and hope that she comes back with another good race at Belmont. She
likes Belmont, and hopefully she throws in another good race.”

Stanwyck has placed in all six outings this season, three at Grade 1 level,
but is winless since taking the Turnback the Alarm Handicap at Belmont last
October for trainer John Shirreffs.

Palace goes for his fourth graded stakes win of the year in the Vosburgh (NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography) Toasting, a multiple overnight stakes winner at Belmont; Endless Chatter, winner of the restricted $100,000 Summer Colony at Saratoga last time; and longshot Oasis at Midnight complete the field. Palace looks to keep his Eclipse Award quest humming in the Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh, a six-furlong tune-up for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The Linda Rice charge enjoyed a sparkling Saratoga, taking the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by a length and then the Forego by 3 1/2 lengths for a top-level double. Hero of the course-and-distance True North in June, Palace figures to get a strong pace to chase. “Unlike the Vanderbilt where the favorite was the lone speed, there is other speed in the (Vosburgh),” Rice said. “Sometimes, there is a lot of speed (on paper) and nobody goes. We’ll have to see how it unfolds. The No. 1 hole can make anybody nervous, but he has won from the No. 1 hole before.” Private Zone, wire-to-wire winner of the 2013 Vosburgh, returns to dirt for his second start of the year after a rough-trip fourth in the Turf Monster Handicap at Parx. Also likely to show gas is Happy My Way, the Maryland Sprint Handicap winner who finished second to Palace as the favorite in the Vanderbilt.

“Going into the (Vanderbilt), I had given him a little break,” trainer Joe
Orseno said of Happy My Way. “If he was going to be a Breeders’ Cup horse, he
was going to need a break at some point. I chose to do it then. He now has a
race under his belt, and he’ll be a lot more ready.”

Private Zone will be making his first start for trainer Alfredo Velazquez,
who hopes the stretch out in distance from five furlongs to six will be
beneficial to his entrant.

“I don’t think he was all that happy being in post 1 (in the Turf Monster),
and he got pinched a little,” Velazquez said. “We think three-quarters is a
better distance for him (than five-eighths).

“We’ve been working him with another horse and starting two or three lengths
behind and having him finish strong. We’re very happy we’ve drawn outside the
other speed.”

Other speed elements include Dads Caps, upset winner of the Carter Handicap
in April, and the Forego pacesetter Zee Bros.

In addition to Palace, the three-year-old Coup de Grace might also benefit
from a contested early pace. The Amsterdam and Bay Shore winner faces older
horses for the first time Saturday following a third-place effort in the
seven-furlong King’s Bishop at Saratoga.

The field is rounded out by Salutos Amigos and Ribo Bobo.

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