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Fleet Indian guts out win in Beldame Paul Saylor's FLEET INDIAN (Indian Charlie) found herself in an unusual position on Saturday in the $600,000 Beldame S. (G1) at Belmont Park, tracking just in behind the first flight of runners in fourth instead of up contesting the pace. That didn't stop the Todd Pletcher trainee from doing what she seems to do best -- win. With Jose Santos aboard, the dark bay mare settled into fourth as Take D' Tour (Tour d'Or), Teammate (A.P. Indy) and Round Pond (Awesome Again) battled it out through opening splits of :23 4/5 and :46 1/5. Entering the turn of the nine-furlong test, Round Pond managed to get her head in front through six furlongs in 1:10 1/5, but by that time Santos had swung out Fleet Indian and was urging her past rivals coming out of the turn. Digging down to hold off the closing Balletto (UAE) (Timber Country), Fleet Indian kept that one at bay to take the win by a head, her eighth in a row, while stopping the clock in 1:48 3/5 on the fast dirt. "She has been so dominant," Pletcher said. "What we were hoping to find out today, which will help us in the Breeders' Cup, is that she can sit off horses and dig in. She showed that today. We figure she wasn't going to get beyond the lead. She sat behind those horses and took dirt. It looked like she might be getting late when that other filly (Balletto) was getting to her, but she dug back in and galloped out strong." Fleet Indian not only stamped her ticket to the November 4 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs with this race, she also gave her trainer a new milestone. Pletcher broke his own single-season earnings record with the $360,000 winner's share here. Sent off the 4-5 favorite, Fleet Indian paid out $3.80, $2.40 and $2.20 while keying the $13.20 exacta and $24.80 trifecta (2-6-5). Balletto, who raced well back in fifth before coming with her game run, was worth $2.90 and $2.40 at 3-1, and it was another seven lengths back to Round Pond, who returned $2.50 at 4-1. Teammate came next and was followed by Sweet Symphony (A.P. Indy) and Take D' Tour. "It looked like Balletto was going to go by her, but we could go once more around and I don't think she was going to go by her," Santos said. "The way the race was shaping up, it was a lot better for a closer like Balletto, but I will say that (Fleet Indian) will overpower this group. Even though she is a New York-bred, she's got the heart of a lion." Fleet Indian, bred in the Empire State by Thomas/Lakin, is the third registered foal out of the Afleet mare Hustleeta and adds this win to victories she's already scored in the Personal Ensign S. (G1), Delaware H. (G2), Sixty Sails H. (G3), Next Move H. (G3) and Obeah S. this year. The five-year-old mare remains undefeated in 2006 from six starts now, and ran her record to 18-13-0-1 to go along with $1,704,513 in lifetime earnings.
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