Awesome Maria, It's Tricky face-off in Ogden Phipps; Acorn draws six

The Grade 1 Met Mile takes center stage at Belmont Park on Memorial Day

Monday, but a trio of stakes for fillies and mares should also garner plenty of

attention.

Awesome Maria will put her six-race win streak on the line while going for a

title defense in the Grade 1, $400,000

Ogden Phipps Handicap while On Fire Baby seeks redemption off her Grade 1

Kentucky Oaks fifth-place finish in the Grade 1, $300,000

Acorn

Stakes. Starting the stakes action on Monday will be the Grade 2, $200,000

Sands

Point Stakes, which drew the largest field amongst the stakes with eight

sophomore fillies entered to go 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf.

Awesome Maria was made the 124-pounds highweight, and 4-5 morning-line

favorite, for the Ogden Phipps after stringing together six straight graded

victories. The Todd Pletcher trainee began her current winning skein in the

Grade 3 Sabin at Gulfstream Park in 2011 and took the Grade 3 Rampart in her

next start by eight lengths.

The Maria's Mon mare began her five-year-old season in the same fashion,

repeating in the Sabin and Rampart, with wins in last year's Ogden Phipps and

Grade 2 Shuvee Handicap sandwiched in between.

It's Tricky will do her best to continue a win streak of her own in the Ogden

Phipps. The Mineshaft four-year-old ran second in the Grade 1 Alabama, Grade 2

Cotillion Stakes and Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in the latter part of her

sophomore season, but opened 2012 with wins in a pair of Grade 2s at Aqueduct,

the Top Flight and Distaff Handicaps.

It's Tricky also owns a win over the track, with that coming on Belmont

Stakes Day last year when she captured the Acorn by 3 3/4 lengths. The bay miss

will receive two pounds from Awesome Maria and reunites with Eddie Castro for

the Ogden Phipps.

"She's doing great," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said of It's Tricky. "We have

a lot of respect for Awesome Maria and her connections. It's going to be a tough

race. But if one of these two wins it, they're going to be three-for-three this

year."

Juanita and She's All In aren't carrying any kind of streak into the race,

but the pair have a shot to upset the Awesome Maria/It's Tricky apple cart. The

former, a four-year-old daughter of Mineshaft, was second to now-retired Horse

of the Year Havre de Grace in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes two back and is

exiting a two-length score in the Grade 2 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs.

"Her pedigree lends itself to getting better with age," trainer Donnie Von

Hemel asserted of She's All In. "Last time we had the chance to run her at 1 1/8

miles, which I was wish the Phipps was, but we're getting significant weight

from some of the others."

Cash for Clunkers, a four-year-old Tiznow filly, completes the Ogden Phipps

field while exiting a 6 3/4-length score in the Heatherten Stakes.

Prior to the Met Mile, six sophomore fillies will line-up in the one-mile

Acorn, and like Awesome Maria and It's Tricky, Contested is seeking to keep her

2012 mark unbeaten in the race.

Contested ran second in her career debut on Del Mar's synthetic Polytrack in

September but has been unbeaten since switching to a conventional dirt surface

in her next race, which came at Santa Anita. The Ghostzapper filly stayed at

that track over the winter, taking an allowance to open her three-year-old

season, then shipped east to romp by 4 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Eight Belles

Stakes under the Twin Spires last out.

Contested will be stretching out to a mile for the first time in the Acorn.

Zo Impressive suffered her first career loss when second in the Grade 2

Gulfstream Park Oaks in late March, but trainer Tom Albertrani is willing to

throw that race out ahead of the Acorn.

"She was bumped at the start in her last race, and that's what caused all the

traffic," he asserted. "Yara came over on her and kind of caused some crowding

into the first turn, pinched her back. But after that, she found her way around

there and finished up well."

The Hard Spun filly captured an optional claimer by 4 1/2 lengths before the

Gulfstream Park Oaks, and keeps jockey Rajiv Marah in the saddle.

Rounding out the Acorn field are Aubby K, who was a 9 3/4-length optional

claiming winner last out; Grade 3 victress Sacristy; and Hard Mystery, a 5

3/4-length victress of the Inside Information Stakes over track and distance on

April 28.

Completing the stakes action at Belmont on Monday will be the Sands Point,

which will feature a rematch between Somali Lemonade and Regalo Mia.

The pair met up in Keeneland's Grade 3 Appalachian Stakes in mid-April, with

Regalo Mia finishing third behind Somali Lemonade's second in the one-mile

event. The Appalachian was Somali Lemonade's first start of the year as the

Lemon Drop Kid filly closed out 2011 with a sixth-place run in the Breeders' Cup

Juvenile Fillies Turf.