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Unrivaled Belle faces five in Ruffian Sunday's $250,000 Ruffian H. (G1) lost a little luster when the connections of Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) opted to run her in last weekend's Lady's Secret S. at Monmouth, but the 1 1/8-mile event at Saratoga will still feature UNRIVALED BELLE (Unbridled's Song), who defeated the reigning Horse of the Year when capturing the La Troienne S. (G2) at Churchill Downs two starts back. Trained by Bill Mott, the four-year-old filly will meet five challengers. Winner of the Real Prize S. in her stakes debut last fall, Unrivaled Belle finished second when making her graded bow in the Gazelle S. (G1) in late November. The gray lass opened 2010 with an unplaced finish over Santa Anita's Polytrack and then got back on track at Gulfstream Park, notching her first stakes victory with a 1 3/4-length score in the Rampart S. (G3). She was favored at 3-5 in the Ogden Phipps (G1) off her victory in the La Troienne, but wound second to Life at Ten (Malibu Moon), who came back to post a convincing three-length tally in the Delaware H. (G2). Unrivaled Belle will keep regular rider Kent Desormeaux in the saddle and is 119-pound highweight. MALIBU PRAYER (Malibu Moon), who registered a 112 BRIS Speed rating for her 4 1/2-length win in the Lighthouse S. at Monmouth on June 26, is the top threat to the favorite. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the speedy miss figures to show the way from the rail with John Velazquez under a 116-pound impost. Canadian invader TASTY TEMPTATION (Medaglia d'Oro) is next on the scale at 115 pounds. A one-length winner of the Hill 'n' Dale S. last time, the Mark Casse-trained filly will pick up the services of Julien Leparoux. Longshots STARSHIP ANGEL (Running Stag), ZAPHYRA (Victory Gallop) and CLASSOFSIXTYTHREE (Include) round out the field. Saratoga will offer the $150,000 Fourstardave H. (G2) and $75,000 Curlin S. on the undercard. The Fourstardave, which attracted a field of 12, including two main-track only runners, for 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf, is in a state of flux with four runners, including leading contenders WHATSTHESCRIPT (Ire) (Royal Applause [GB]) and VIOLON SACRE (Stravinsky), cross-entered to Sunday's Oceanport (G3) at Monmouth Park. Trained by Gary Contessa, the six-year-old Whatsthescript returned from a brief stud career to finish a good third in the July 10 Battlefield S. last time, and the multiple Grade 2 winner will push his lifetime earnings past the $1 million mark with a victory in the Fourstardave. The Patrick Biancone-conditioned Violon Sacre, a French stakes victor, rallied to a neck decision when making his second U.S. start in the Battlefield. Multiple Grade 3 hero GET STORMY (Stormy Atlantic) will be the one to beat if the abovementioned horses depart for the Oceanport. The make-up of the Curlin is also subject to change with a pair of top prospects, WINSLOW HOMER (Unbridled's Song) and MINER'S RESERVE (Mineshaft), cross-entered to Saturday's Jim Dandy (G2). Holy Bull (G3) winner Winslow Homer returned from a lengthy layoff with a third in the Iowa Derby (G3) and is eligible to improve in his second start back for Tony Dutrow. Miner's Reserve, a dominant 5 3/4-length allowance winner at Belmont for Nick Zito two back, finished a decent second to Jim Dandy contender A Little Warm (Stormin Fever) in a Delaware Park allowance last time and figures to show the way early beneath Alex Solis.
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