Dayatthespa relaxed in winning return to the track

Dayatthespa relaxed in winning return to the track

Heavily favored Dayatthespa made a successful seasonal debut on Sunday at

Belmont Park, seizing the lead on the turn and pulling clear to a four-length

victory in the $88,200

You Go

West Girl overnight stakes for New York-bred turf fillies and mares.

Making her first start since suffering a cut tendon in the Matriarch in

November at Hollywood Park, the four-year-old City Zip filly tracked My Jopia

through an opening quarter-mile in :23 1/5 and a half in :46 3/5. Turning back a

challenge from Kibosh on the turn, Dayatthespa turned for home in command and

cruised under the wire in 1:33 2/5 for a mile over the firm turf.

"I'm glad she came back good after the layoff and did it the way she did it,"

jockey Javier Castellano said. "It was a great performance and I'm happy with

that."

Dayatthespa, who was voted 2012's top New York-bred three-year-old filly and

top New York-bred turf female, returned $2.50 for a $2 win bet. Overall, she is

7-1-0 from 10 career starts including a win in last year's Queen Elizabeth II

Challenge Cup at Keeneland.

"We were lucky to get her back," said Chad Brown, who trains the filly for

Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon and Bradley Thoroughbreds. "She had

a difficult experience in the Matriarch where she tried to jump the rail. For a

moment we were considering retiring her; we didn't think she would come back

good. We tested her out a little bit at Palm Meadows during the early part of

the breeding season, and she trained well and never looked back. We thought this

was a good spot to get her started."

Brown said the Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game on June 8 would be the next

likely start for Dayatthespa.

Kibosh was second, followed by Elusive Rumor, My Jopia, and Mystic City. Lady

On the Run, Go Unbridled and Erin Enchanted were scratched.

In the first stakes race on the Belmont card, Sequel Racing's Belief System

pulled off the upset in his stakes bow in the $98,000

Times Square division of the

New York Stallion Stakes as the 15-1 longshot and paid

$32.80, $8.50 and $3.30 to his backers.

"This was his second start for us," trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. "He's been

pretty good. When we got him, he was ready to run. So we just waited for the

right spot to put him in. We got lucky. The other horses went pretty fast and we

would like to run a little longer, but this was a good race for him."

The three-year-old Read the Footnotes gelding underwent a ground-saving trip, grabbed the lead

in the stretch and dug in to hold on for a half-length victory over 6-5 favorite

Chapman.

"I know they were going a little fast in front, but the track has been pretty

fast," jockey Junior Alvarado said. "I didn't want to be too far back, either. I

just tried to keep after my horse because he was trying to shuffle back a little

bit. I just tried to keep him as close as I can, turning for home he got a nice

space and he finished up pretty well."

Belief System covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17 1/5 over the fast main track.

The dark bay was exiting his maiden win at Aqueduct on March 14. He banked

$60,000 for his first stakes score, increasing his lifetime earnings to $87,350

from a 5-2-1-1 line.

In the second stakes race, Joemar Racing Stables' homebred Lovely Syn blew

away the field by 9 1/2 lengths in her stakes debut in the $100,000

Park Avenue division of the

New York Stallion Stakes.

The Dominick Schettino charge set a solid pace just off the inside in hand

and never looked back as she wired the six-horse field in a romp.

"She's fast, she's always been fast, but I'd like to see her break a little

better," Schettino stated. "We're teaching her, but she doesn't have that early

foot right out of the gate. Hopefully in time, with schooling and teaching her,

she'll get the hang of it.

"Her sister, Lemon Tiger, was the same way. She

actually breaks a little better than Lemon Tiger. Mike Luzzi said that at the

five-sixteenths pole, she got a little bored, like 'Where is everybody?' He

tapped her a couple of times and then she responded. She's the type of filly if

you just sit on her, she'll settle, and then when you ask her, she goes, which

is a good sign if you want to stretch out longer.

The three-year-old Freud filly crossed the wire in a final time of 1:16 1/5

for the 6 1/2-furlong contest with Mike Luzzi aboard.

The bay remained undefeated, is now three-for-three in her short career and

has $127,200 in lifetime earnings.

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