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Contentious field of 11 turf distaffers line up in Beverly
D.
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| Stephanie's Kitten's last win came in the 2013 Just a Game
(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography) |
The morning-line odds reflect the competitive nature of Saturday's Grade 1,
$750,000
Beverly
D. Stakes at
Arlington, with the early favorite listed at 7-2 and the highest odds of
30-1 belonging to a filly who just missed by a neck in the local prep.
Early favoritism in the 1 3/16-mile grass contest, which is a "Breeders' Cup Challenge Win
& You're In"
race for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, belongs to dual Grade 1 heroine
Stephanie's Kitten. The Ken
and Sarah Ramsey homebred daughter of Kitten's Joy will be making just her
seventh start in two years in Saturday's test.
Last year, while conditioned by Wayne Catalano, Stephanie's Kitten captured
the Churchill
Distaff Mile and Just a Game Stakes at
Belmont Park prior to
a close half-length third in
Saratoga's Diana
Stakes. While preparing for a possible run in the Beverly D., the Kentucky-bred
was injured and sidelined for a few months to heal and recuperate.
Subsequently turned over to trainer Chad Brown, the newly turned
five-year-old mare dropped her initial two starts this season in the Jenny Wiley
at Keeneland and Just a
Game, but wasn't too far back of the winner while finishing off-the-board in
both races. Stephanie's Kitten showed signs of her previous form last out when
rallying from well back to just miss by a neck to the re-opposing Somali
Lemonade in the Diana.
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International star jockey Frankie Dettori, who was at the Spa and piloted
Stephanie's Kitten in the Diana, retains the mount as the bay mare attempts to
continue her forward progression against a tough cast.
Domestically, the Diana has turned out to be quite significant this year in
terms of Beverly D. runners, as winner Somali Lemonade, eighth-placer Alterite,
ninth-placer Emollient and 10th-placer Tannery all are entered back Saturday.
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| Somali Lemonade will face some familiar rivals from the Diana in the Beverly D.
(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography) |
Somali Lemonade, one of the six Grade/Group 1 winners in the 2014 Beverly D.
field, will try to duplicate her winning Diana effort under jockey Luiz Saez.
The pair have thus far this year racked up three wins and a pair of placings
from five starts.
In addition to the Diana, the Lemon Drop Kid mare captured the Gallorette
Handicap at Pimlico and
placed in both the Just a Game and
Gulfstream Park's
Marshua's River Stakes. The Michael Matz trainee has improved drastically over
last year when only able to post a 1-0-0 line from six races, and is listed at
6-1 on the morning-line.
Somali Lemonade had her first stroll around the Arlington oval on Wednesday
morning after shipping from Saratoga on Tuesday afternoon. The
five-year-old mare is being looked after by her head traveling lass and morning
rider Clare Byrnes.
"This morning was very good," Byrnes reported. "She jogged one and galloped
one (lap) and got a look around; no problems at all. She shipped fine and
settled in nicely."
Somali Lemonade looks to be in career-best form this year.
"She's been doing really great since the Diana," Byrnes continued. "She just
keeps improving and getting better and better. When the blinkers were added, she
completely changed her game. She settled really nicely in the Diana and we're
hoping she does that again -- especially with her outside draw (post 11)."
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French-bred Alterite was a tough rival overseas, taking a pair of listed
contests and placing against Group 1 competition. Shipping stateside to Brown's
barn, the Literato filly immediately got off the mark for her new shedrow when
capturing Belmont's Garden City, just missing by a neck in the Queen Elizabeth
II Challenge Cup at Keeneland and running a close third in the Breeders' Cup
Filly & Mare Turf at Santa
Anita in November.
Alterite ran eighth while making her four-year-old bow in the July 19 Diana
last out, but was only three lengths behind Somali Lemonade on the wire. Javier
Castellano had the call that day and stays aboard the 4-1 morning-line second
choice.
Emollient and Tannery are both Grade 1 winners from last year looking to
regain that form after subpar efforts in the Diana.
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| Emollient is looking to return to her Spinster-winning form on Saturday
(Keeneland /Coady Photography) |
Emollient was just a nose behind Alterite when fourth in the 2013 Breeders'
Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and returned to Santa Anita to begin her four-year-old
campaign with a fourth in the Santa Ana after spending the winter months at
Gulfstream. The Bill Mott charge ran a half-length third in the Doubledogdare
over Keeneland's Polytrack, the site of her biggest win to date in the 2013
Spinster, and then shipped west once again to be nosed out when second in the
Gamely.
In the Diana, Emollient lost all chance when bumped, rank and taken up while
running in the rear of the nine-furlong grass event. Joel Rosario was aboard
that day and will try to work out a better trip in the Beverly D. for the 5-1
early shot.
Tannery took a different path to the Diana, scoring by a head in
Monmouth Park's Miss
Liberty and running second in Belmont's New York Stakes for trainer Alan
Goldberg. Like Emollient, the Dylan Thomas mare was a bit rank in that race
while rating in fourth and finally tired to 10th in the stretch run. Winner of
the E.P. Taylor over yielding ground at
Woodbine last season, the Irish-bred bay faced the boys twice in 2013,
filling the fourth spot in the Sword Dancer Invitational and coming in a
half-length third to close out the year in the Red Smith, both in New York
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Listed at 10-1 on the Beverly D. morning-line, Tannery will get a jockey
switch to Robby Albarado.
Arlington's own local prep, the Modesty Handicap, will see two go in the
Beverly D. I'm Already Sexy got the neck win in the 1 3/16-mile affair on July
12, with Street of Gold another nose back in third. Trained by Catalano, the
Ready's Image four-year-old is four-for-four over Arlington's green, having also
captured the Pucker Up and Hatoof last season, and entered the Modesty off a
close second in the Mint Julep Handicap at Churchill Downs. Street of Gold, on
the other hand, was recording one of the best finishes of her career in the
Modesty, and has been at double-digit odds in seven of her last nine races.
Florent Geroux will be aboard Beverly D. 20-1 shot I'm Already Sexy while
Edgar Prado has the call on the Eric Reed-trained Street of Gold.
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| Saturday's Beverly D. marks La Tia's (center) first turf race this year
(WEG/Michael Burns Photography) |
La Tia tried to lead all the way home in last year's Beverly D., but was
swamped by rivals in the lane and wound up fifth. She entered that 24th running
of the race off a third in the Modesty, but trainer Armado De La Cerda took a
different route this year with the City Place mare.
La Tia has scored at the Chicago venue this season, taking the Arlington
Matron by 6 1/4 lengths on the Polytrack, but instead of sticking around for the
Modesty she shipped north of the border to post that same margin of victory in
the Ontario Matron on Woodbine's version of the synthetic surface. Her last turf
start actually came when wrapping up her four-year-old campaign last year with a
third in the Illini Princess Handicap at Hawthorne.
La Tia will open at 15-1 for her second try at Beverly D. glory with E.T.
Baird taking back the mount.
Just the Judge, Euro Charline and Sparkling Beam are this year's
international contingent for the race and finish out the field. The former is
the more respected of the trio at 6-1 on the morning-line off a nice third in
the Pretty Polly Stakes at the
Curragh. The four-year-old daughter of Lawman captured last year's Irish One
Thousand Guineas, and trainer Charlie Hill has regular rider Jamie Spencer
flying in for the call.
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Euro Charline, 8-1 for the Beverly D., is 3-1-1 from six career starts for
trainer Marco Botti including a third in
Royal Ascot's Coronation
Stakes two back. Ryan Moore will be aboard as the Myboycharlie filly enters
Saturday's contest following a listed win at Ascot. On Wednesday, the bay filly had her second routine canter
in as many days around the Arlington turf under
the trainer's assistant and wife, Lucie Botti.
"She felt very good," Botti reported. "We are very pleased. I think most of
the good fillies have a little spark in them. If it comes with ability, it's
fine."
As far as the race itself, Botti has remained realistic --
yet still very confident in her charge's ability.
"I think the draw is very important," he said. "We are not worried about the
distance because she settles well in the races and in her work at home -- so
we're pretty confident in that. The field is an unknown running against older
fillies; they are very good. It's tough to ask, but she is going to try.
"It's very difficult to compare the American form to the European form, but
that's something for the handicappers to do," Botti continued. "I think you have
to respect Just the Judge -- she's a classic winner and is moving well on the
turf here. She would be -- from our perspective -- the one to beat. I'm not
taking anything from the American form; we just can't compare. For us, she would
be the main target."
Group 3 winner Sparkling Beam has won or placed in 10 of her 15 career races
thus far for trainer Jonathan Pease and gets regular rider Thierry Jarnet in the
irons as she attempts to move to the next level at 20-1 early odds.
The Beverly D. will be part of Arlington's $200,000-guaranteed All-Stakes
Pick 4 (races 7-10) that begins with the American St. Leger and includes all
three Grade 1 contests. In addition, the track's 50-cent Pick 5 will offer a guaranteed pool of $100,000 and
cover the 8TH-12TH races -- the Secretariat, Beverly D., Arlington Million, Hatoof
and conclude with the final race of the day.
There will be two divisions of the $75,000 Hatoof for sophomore fillies going
about 1 1/16 miles on the turf, kicking off the stakes action in the
5TH
race and wrapping up the day's black-type contests in the
11TH. Following the first division of the Hatoof, the $65,000
Straight Line will send three-year-olds a mile on the Polytrack.
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