Alexander Tango has all the right moves in Garden City

Noel O'Callaghan's ALEXANDER TANGO (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) rallied strongly

from near the tail of the field to capture Saturday's $219,800

Garden

City S. (G1) at Belmont Park. An Irish invader trained by Tommy Stack, the

chestnut sophomore reeled off 1 1/8 miles on the firm inner turf in 1:48 4/5,

recording her first Grade 1 score.

With new rider Shaun Bridgmohan in the irons, Alexander Tango was content to

settle in ninth, next to last, as New Edition (Stormy Atlantic) crawled through

fractions of :25 4/5, :50 1/5 and 1:14 2/5. The advantage seemed to lie with

those closest to the tepid tempo, including Sharp Susan (Touch Gold) and Bit of

Whimsy (Distorted Humor), but Alexander Tango debunked the conventional wisdom.

Turning for home, Alexander Tango began to gather momentum on the outside, and

once straightening up in the stretch, she steamrolled past the pace-pressers and

got up by three-quarters of a length at the wire. The Irish filly returned

$13.60, $8.90 and $5.60 as the nearly 6-1 third choice.

"Ideally, we wanted to be midpack early," admitted Fozzy Stack, the trainer's

son and assistant. "I thought we were done on the backstretch. The pace was

slow, and she was farther back than I thought she would be."

Bit of Whimsy and Sharp Susan battled heads apart through the lane, with

Costume (GB) (Danehill) joining the fray in deep stretch. The trio flashed past

the line nearly in unison, separated by a grand total of two noses. Bit of

Whimsy just secured second on the bob, while Sharp Susan had that same margin to

spare over Costume. The 14-1 runner-up gave back $13 and $6.60, and Sharp Susan

yielded $5.70 at nearly 7-1. The exotics were worth $231 (exacta), $1,671 (trifecta)

and $15,990 (7-5-2-4 superfecta). Chestoria (Chester House) checked in fifth,

followed by Valbenny (Ire) (Val Royal [Fr]), Missvinski (Stravinsky), Street

Sounds (Street Cry [Ire]), New Edition and 8-5 favorite Rutherienne (Pulpit),

who was never in the hunt.

Alexander Tango now sports a mark of 11-4-2-1 with $366,442 in earnings.

Successful in the One Thousand Guineas Trial S. (Ire-G3) and Kilboy Estate S.

this season, she was coming off an excellent second to the classy colt Eagle

Mountain (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]) in the Royal Whip S. (Ire-G2) at the Curragh.

Her resume also features placings in the Debutante S. (Ire-G2) last summer and

the Loughbrown S. in her three-year-old debut, and she was a respectable fourth

in the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1).

Bred in the Emerald Isle by Philip Brady, Alexander Tango was sold for

$111,096 as a weanling at the 2004 Tattersalls December sale. She is out of the

unraced Woodman mare House in Wood, who is herself a half-sister to French Group

2 hero Housamix (Linamix) as well as multiple stakes victress and Grade 1-placed Housa

Dancer (Fr) (Fabulous Dancer). Alexander Tango's third dam is Hippodamia (Hail

to Reason), France's champion two-year-old filly of 1973.

Fozzy Stack indicated that Alexander Tango would remain at Belmont for the

September 29 Flower Bowl Invitational S. (G1).