Good Cheer looks to remain perfect in G1 DK Horse Acorn; G1 Ogden Phipps, G1 New York Stakes Previews

Good Cheer looks to remain perfect in G1 DK Horse Acorn

By Mary Eddy —

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Godolphin’s undefeated Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Good Cheer will look to maintain a flawless ledger as she takes on six rivals in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 DK Horse Acorn, a nine-furlong route for sophomore fillies, at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Acorn [Race 11] is one of six stakes on the Friday program, which features three other Grade 1s in the $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino [Race 12], the $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing [Race 13] and the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9] – a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar. First post for the 14-race program, which also hosts the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup in Race 10 and the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses in Race 6, is 11:40 a.m. Eastern.

Good Cheer, trained by two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox through her seven perfect starts, has been making her Acorn preparations at Churchill Downs, where Godolphin USA’s Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said the filly is thriving.

“She’s in great shape and came out of the Kentucky Oaks very well. Her works have been excellent leading up to the Acorn and it seems like she’s getting even better,” Banahan said. “We’re just enjoying the ride and she’s a special filly. The longer they stay undefeated, a little more pressure comes on to keep that streak going.”

Good Cheer looks to keep her momentum rolling off a dominant 2 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 2 at Churchill Downs, rallying from farther back than ever before in her career as she tracked in eighth-of-13 through the half-mile in 46.78 seconds over the wet-fast and sealed footing. With a five-wide move in the turn under Luis Saez, Good Cheer swept past her rivals as she stormed down the lane to notch her seventh consecutive victory in a final time of 1:50.15.

Banahan praised the smart ride by Saez to keep Good Cheer wide around any trouble from post 10-of-13.

“She didn’t have the perfect draw, and Luis probably did the right thing keeping her out of any opportunity to get in trouble,” Banahan said. “She was a little wide and further back, but she’s very adaptable and Luis knows her so well. He knew what he had underneath him. I think we’ve seen enough races from her that we can be confident that wherever he puts her, it’s probably the right spot to be in.”

Just one day after the Kentucky Oaks, Godolphin claimed the garland of roses in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty, who is targeting the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 7 here.

Banahan said the win was especially meaningful to share with the dedicated staff members of Godolphin’s three Kentucky facilities, each within 100 miles of Churchill Downs.

“It was a very special weekend,” Banahan said. “It was something that hadn’t been done in over 70 years for the same [owner] to win the Oaks and the Derby, and that tells you how difficult it is to do it. It was a phenomenal weekend, and it makes it extra special that it was at a local track with a lot of people that work for us at the farm that were able to get to the races and enjoy that experience and get involved. It’s hard to duplicate that again.”

The Oaks marked the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro’s first top-level triumph, and came on the heels of a tremendous winter at Fair Grounds Race Course that saw her win the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra in February and Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March. The latter effort, as well as her Oaks victory, was awarded a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Good Cheer, whose sparkling campaign includes a 17-length allowance trouncing and stakes wins in the Listed Rags to Riches and Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill as a juvenile, is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Street Sense mare Wedding Toast, who also produced stakes-winner Ya Hayati.

“Every time she goes to the racetrack, she improves,” Banahan said. “From last year as a 2-year-old to go from winning the allowance, to a listed stake, to the Golden Rod, she just makes those incremental improvements all the time. She does everything we ask her to do and comes out on the right side. It’s been fun having her in the stable – she’s a very uncomplicated filly, very professional and does everything that Brad wants her to do.”

Luis Saez, aboard for her last six starts, will guide Good Cheer from post 2 as Godolphin searches for their third Acorn victory in four years [Matareya in 2022, Pretty Mischievous in 2023].

Also exiting the May 2 card at Churchill is Reddam Racing’s Look Forward [post 6, Umberto Rispoli], who stretches out from a prominent 1 1/4-length score in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Eight Belles.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, the Bolt d’Oro filly pounced from third to land the breakthrough victory over Blue Fire in a final time of 1:22.36. The win was her third career trip to the winner’s circle, with all three efforts coming at sprint distances. Her three efforts going a route of ground yielded a runner-up finish in the Listed Santa Ynez, and a respective seventh and sixth in the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park and Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, each going 1 1/16 miles.

“She looks like she’s doing well,” McCarthy said. “The mile and an eighth is a bit of an unknown territory with us for her. I’m sure she will find herself somewhere close to the lead or on the lead. She will be forwardly placed.”

McCarthy said he was pleased with the Eight Belles effort as the filly now prepares for a return to two-turns in the Acorn, which was previously contested at 1 1/16 miles around one-turn at Belmont Park.

“I thought she was very good. A very gutsy performance,” McCarthy said. “I had been waiting to cut her back for a while, so it was great to see a performance like that and have her win a big one Derby week. This is like the same thing, the Acorn is very prestigious in its own right. This is a different configuration, different distance [than Belmont], so we will see.”

Tracy Farmer’s Grade 1-winning homebred La Cara will face off with Good Cheer again after a ninth in the Kentucky Oaks with a pressured pacesetting trip under returning rider Dylan Davis [post 3].

“She loves what she’s doing,” said Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. “She’s very professional. She’s a racehorse.”

La Cara was a pacesetting winner of the Grade 1 Ashland in April at Keeneland, securing her spot in the Oaks where she again set the tempo with pressure from the Bob Baffert-trained Tenma [fourth] before weakening in the final turn to finish 13 lengths behind Good Cheer.

Casse said he expects La Cara to again be forwardly placed.

“It doesn’t hurt her [being up front]. She likes to be on the lead,” Casse said. “I was surprised Bob’s filly ran with her early in the Oaks and actually stayed around better than we did. If she’d laid off us a little bit, I’m not sure we would have run a whole lot better but I thought Bob’s filly gave a big effort.”

Casse went on to saddle Grade 1 Arkansas Derby-winner Sandman to a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby over a sloppy and sealed track, but the colt returned two weeks later to run a respectable third in the Grade 1 Preakness.

“We saw with Sandman that he didn’t run well in the mud [in the Derby] and everyone wanted to dismiss him, but he came back with a good effort,” Casse said. “I’m hoping the same happens for La Cara.”

Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable and trainer Jorge Abreu’s Grade 1-winner Scottish Lassie will vie to improve off a third in her seasonal debut in a one-turn mile optional claimer on May 1 at Belmont at the Big A.

There, she broke awkwardly and had trouble finding her footing before rushing into contention to duel head-to-head for the lead. She weakened in the lane and finished three lengths behind the victorious Cassiar.

Scottish Lassie graduated in style last year with a nine-length romp in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont at the Big A, which awarded her a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies where she finished an even fourth.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides from post 1.

Completing the field are Oaks third-place finisher Bless the Broken [post 5, John Velazquez] for trainer Will Walden; the 2-for-3 Shred the Gnar [post 4, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Brian Lynch; and Grade 1-placed Quickick [post 7, Flavien Prat] for conditioner Tom Amoss.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Cover Photo: Good Cheer; Hodges Photography

Raging Sea sails into G1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford

By Christian Abdo —-

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Alpha Delta Stables’ Kentucky homebred Raging Sea has developed a reputation as a giant slayer but now may be the one to beat in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford, a nine-furlong test for older fillies and mares, during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Ogden Phipps offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar.

Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the 5-year-old Curlin chestnut enters from a closing three-quarter-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 La Troienne last out on May 2 at Churchill Downs. She successfully returned from a six-month layoff, besting a field that included reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna and the Brown-trained dual Grade 1-winner Randomized, who also contests the Ogden Phipps.

After a fourth in the past running of the Phipps, Raging Sea [post 4, Flavien Prat] won three consecutive nine-furlong graded events, highlighted by a closing score over 2023-24 Champion Older Dirt Mare Idiomatic in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign over course and distance in August.

“Raging Sea has really proven that she is consistent year to year. She’s really at her best right now,” said Brown.

Raging Sea’s past campaign was capped with a second in last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff to eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna. Re-opposing stablemate Randomized was second in that event in 2023 to Idiomatic.

Klaravich Stables’ Randomized [post 7, Joel Rosario] finished third last out in the aforementioned La Troienne, missing place honors by a head to Taxed. The speedy 5-year-old Nyquist bay set the pace and battled on, but was edged late by Raging Sea and Taxed.

“I feel like she should move forward off of her first race of the year,” said Brown. “That tends to be how she is. Year to year, that first race has seemed to benefit her. In the past, she’s acted like she needed that one race to get going.”

Randomized, when making her second start off the layoff, was a pacesetting winner of last year’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford, holding off the oncoming favorite Idiomatic by a head with strong determination in the lane under returning Hall of Fame rider Joel Rosario.

Randomized utilized similar frontrunning tactics when capturing the local 2023 Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales and the restricted Wilton here. Her last start without a clear lead after the opening quarter-mile was in last year’s Personal Ensign, where she finished fourth behind Raging Sea, Idiomatic, and subsequent Champion Female Sprinter Soul of an Angel.

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher sends a pair of Grade 1 winners in Leslie’s Rose [post 3, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and Candied [post 5, Manny Franco] as he seeks a fourth victory in this event, following past scores with Ashado [2005], Life At Ten and Awesome Maria [2010-11].

Whisper Hill Farm’s Leslie’s Rose was a last-out neck third when making her seasonal debut in 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Vagrancy on May 4 at Belmont at the Big A. The 4-year-old Into Mischief bay was bumped at the break, traveling third throughout, and could only make up mild ground on the Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained pair of Haulin Ice and R Disaster.

“She’s training great and got a good race under her belt,” said Pletcher. “Hopefully stretching her back out will have her at her best. She is strong.”

Among Leslie’s Rose 8-3-1-2 record is a win last year in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland and a second to Thorpedo Anna in the nine-furlong Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn during the past Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at the Spa.

Leslie’s Rose, a $1.15 million Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, is out of the Galileo mare Wildwood Rose – a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Materiality and Grade 2-winner My Miss Sophia.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Bobby Flay’s Candied brings strong recent form with a last-out three-length score in the nine-furlong Listed Allaire DuPont Distaff on May 16 at Pimlico Race Course. There, the 4-year-old Candy Ride bay closed from six lengths back in 4th-of-6 to cruise by the pacesetting returning rival Dazzling Move.

“Her last race was good, and it was nice to see her win again,” Pletcher said. “She seemed to bounce out of it really well, so we’ll come back after three weeks.”

Candied captured the 2023 Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland, topping a consistent 11-4-2-4 career with over $1.2 million in total earnings. She earned Grade 1 seconds as a sophomore in the local Alabama and Coaching Club American Oaks, among six career top-level on-the-board finishes.

Miller Racing’s Grade 3-winner Dazzling Move [post 2, Jose Ortiz], in her last-out second with blinkers off in the Listed Allaire DuPont Distaff, was making just her third start for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

For Joseph, Jr., the 4-year-old Not This Time dark bay was fifth in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Madison in April at Keeneland after capturing the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Royal Delta in her February barn debut at Gulfstream Park – neither effort was on the lead.

“Her biggest thing is she needs to relax – she gets over-keen and if she can relax better, it helps her,” said Joseph, Jr. “First time out going two turns for us, she won, and then she ran one-turn again and didn’t run well. Last time, she ran decently behind Candied, so we’re just trying to see if we can pick up a Grade 1 placing.”

Dazzling Move made her first 14 starts for conditioner Michael Trombetta, featuring a second to Nic’s Style in the seven-furlong Listed Pumpkin Pie in November at Belmont at the Big A.

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Tarifa [post 6, Luis Saez] looks to get back in the win column for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox after three graded stakes placings. She was third in her seasonal debut in the one-mile Grade 1 Beholder Mile in March at Santa Anita Park ahead of a second in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare last out on April 18 at Keeneland.

“She ran a nice first start out in California and we were pleased with the run,” said Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA’s director of bloodstock. “She’s come out of the Doubledogdare in very good shape and has put in a couple of really nice works. We had the option to run in the Shawnee at Churchill or try the big dogs in the Ogden Phipps. We said let’s swing for the fences and try our luck in a Grade 1 again.”

The 4-year-old Bernardini dark bay is on the brink of millionaire status with $985,100 in earnings, thanks in part due to a trio of Grade 2 scores as a sophomore, most recently in the nine-furlong Mother Goose in October at Belmont at the Big A. She made the Kentucky Oaks starting gate last year with wins in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra and Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks, both at Fair Grounds Race Course.

“I think she fits in here,” said Banahan. “We brought her to the Oaks and she didn’t hit the target there, but she’s still a nice filly and she placed behind Thorpedo Anna in the [Grade 1] Cotillion as well. She’s not too far away from the better fillies last year, and I don’t think she’s too far away from them as a 4-year-old either.”

Rounding out the field is Grade 1-placed Dorth Vader [post 1, John Velazquez] for trainer George Weaver. The 5-year-old Girvin dark bay, the head runner-up of the 2023 Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park, enters from a fourth in the La Troienne after breaking from the inside post and exchanging bumps with Thorpedo Anna into the first turn as the Rosario-piloted Randomized cleared the field.

“She’s doing well,” said Weaver. “She was running the whole way and it was tight in the first turn. She was on the rail and Joel Rosario came over on her and stopped her. We’d like a clean trip.”

Dorth Vader, who holds a 14-4-2-1 record with $618,218 in earnings, is a Grade 2-winning Florida homebred for John Ropes.

The Ogden Phipps is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 14-race program, which includes the Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn [Race 11], Grade 1 New York pres. by Rivers Casino [Race 12], Grade 1 Just a Game pres. by Resolute Racing [Race 13], Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses [Race 6], and the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup [Race 10]. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 10 a.m.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

She Feels Pretty stands out in G1 New York presented by Rivers Casino

By Keith McCalmont

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Lael Stables’ multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire She Feels Pretty brings a three-race win streak to Friday’s Grade 1, $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino, a 1 3/16-mile Mellon turf test for older fillies and mares on Day Three of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, at Saratoga Race Course.

The New York, slated as Race 12, is one of four Grade 1s for females on the 14-race card, including the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9], offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff; the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn [Race 11]; and the $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing [Race 13].

A pair of Grade 2s will complete the program, with the $300,000 Bed o’ Roses [Race 6] and the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup [Race 10], which is a ‘Golden Ticket’ event offering the winner an automatic berth into the Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup worth more than AUD $8 million. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern with gates open to the public at 10 a.m.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux earned her first top-level score when She Feels Pretty captured the Grade 1 Natalma as a 2-year-old at Woodbine ahead of a half-length third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita Park.

Last year, the now 4-year-old Karakontie chestnut was a three-quarter length third to the victorious Cinderella’s Dream in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in July at Belmont at the Big A and a neck second to Grayosh in the Spa’s Grade 2 Lake Placid in August.

DeVaux said that following the Lake Placid effort, she had a conversation with She Feels Pretty’s Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez on how to fine tune the filly’s talents and decided to add blinkers to her repertoire.

“We just felt like there was more in there to give, so we tried blinkers and that seems to have been the key. She really responded well,” DeVaux said.

The improvement was marked by She Feels Pretty adding two more Grade 1s to her ledger with scores in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland and the American Oaks in December at Santa Anita. The Keeneland effort earned She Feels Pretty a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure as she kicked away to a six-length score.

She Feels Pretty made her seasonal debut on May 2 at Churchill Downs while racing from a more than four-month layoff in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Modesty. There, she tracked from third position as Segesta and Birdie Rose dueled through three-quarters in 1:10.73. She made a three-wide bid into the lane and again showed her tremendous turn-of-foot en route to a 2 1/4-length victory over returning rival Gimme a Nother in a course record 1:45.51.

“It was very workmanlike. She set a track record which was amazing since we were just getting a race into her,” DeVaux said. “We’re happy with her and she came out of that in good order. Hopefully, she takes a step forward here.”

She Feels Pretty will now look to earn her first Grade 1 against elders as she headlines a strong field of eight. She will carry a co-field high 124 pounds when exiting the outermost post in rein to Velazquez, who DeVaux trusts implicitly to engineer a winning trip.

“It always depends on how the pace is. She has good tactical speed. It just depends on how the race unfolds from the beginning of the race,” DeVaux said.

The $240,000 purchase from the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale is out of the winning New York-bred More Than Ready mare Summer Sweet – a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Adirondack Summer and stakes-winner Summer Breezing. She has banked in excess of $1.3 million via a 9-6-1-2 record with wins ranging from 5 1/2-furlongs to 1 1/4-miles.

“She’s a big, strong filly,” DeVaux said. “She’s progressed really well. Since she started her career, she’s stepped up every year and every race. Hopefully, she continues in that trajectory as she continues on with her racing career.”

Trainer Graham Motion will send out a formidable pair of South African-bred mares in Gimme a Nother [post 3, Jose Ortiz, 124 pounds] and Beach Bomb [post 7, Luis Saez, 124 pounds].

Newstead Stables’ Gimme a Nother, a 5-year-old Gimmethegreenlight bay, went undefeated in seven starts at Turffontein in her native South Africa for trainer Michael de Kock topped by Group 1 wins in the South Africa Fillies Classic and Empress Club last year.

She made her stateside debut from a nearly one-year layoff in March at Tampa Bay Downs, closing to finish a three-quarter length second to Saffron Moon in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Hillsborough. Last out, she rallied from last-of-6 in the Modesty to complete the exacta behind She Feels Pretty.

“I kind of hate to run against her [She Feels Pretty] again, but I think off the last race, she deserves a chance in here,” said Motion, who won this event back-to-back with Mean Mary in 2020-21.

Cayton Park Stud’s Beach Bomb, a 5-year-old Lancaster Bomber bay, won four times in South Africa led by Group 1 scores in the 2023 Cape Fillies Guineas and the Paddock, a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event, last January for conditioner Candice Leigh Bass-Robinson.

Six months after finishing second in the Group 1 Cape Derby at Kenilworth, Beach Bomb returned to action in August 2024 to finish a closing second in 1 1/16-mile Violet at Monmouth Park in her first start for Motion. Beach Bomb broke through in her fourth U.S. start with a change of tactics by wiring the 11-furlong Grade 3 The Very One in her seasonal debut on March 1 at Gulfstream Park. She replicated that effort in the 12-furlong Grade 3 Orchid on March 29 at Gulfstream, besting Silvology by a head.

Beach Bomb enters from a prominent second to returning rival Bellezza in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay on May 2 at Belmont at the Big A. She will make her first start in a Grade 1 since her eighth-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar when 3 1/2-lengths back of the victorious Moira.

“I think she would appreciate another sixteenth of a mile, but I believe she deserves another shot in a Grade 1,” Motion said. “She has moved forward with time. We had to push her a little bit to make the Breeders’ Cup and couldn’t miss a race. After that, I just wanted her to collect herself and she hasn’t missed a beat since.

“She’s very straightforward, easy to manage and easy to train and she’s a kind, nice filly to be around,” Motion added. “She’s a galloper and likes to run a little more like that [on the front] and doesn’t have a huge turn-of-foot. From her runs in Florida, you can assume she loves the firm ground.”

Moyglare Stud Farm’s Bellezza [post 6, Flavien Prat, 120 pounds] made her U.S. debut a memorable one in the Sheepshead Bay, powering away to a 1 1/2-length score for the late trainer Christophe Clement.

Now trained by Clement’s son, Miguel Clement, the 4-year-old Siyouni bay made her first seven starts in her native Ireland for trainer Ger Lyons, topped by a rallying neck score in the 10-furlong Listed Diamond on September 27 over the Dundalk synthetic.

She hit the board in a trio of Listed turf stakes last summer when second in both the 1 5/8-miles Yeats at Navan and 10-furlong Naas Oaks Trial ahead of a three-quarter length third in the 12-furlong Marble City at Gowran Park.

Bellezza has worked back twice since her impressive Sheepshead Bay coup, including a five-eighths breeze in 59.80 over the Oklahoma training turf on May 30.

The talented bay is out of the Listed stakes-placed Galileo mare Terrific, a full-sister to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Together, who captured the 2011 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.

Dixiana Farms’ Kentucky homebred Forever After All [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 120 pounds] has finished first or second in five of her last six starts led by a geared-down nine-length romp last out in the 12-furlong Grade 3 Bewitch over yielding footing in April at Keeneland.

Trained by Brendan Walsh, the 6-year-old Connect mare has banked $782,454 through a 24-4-10-2 record. Her recent run of form includes a nose win in the 12-furlong Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January at Gulfstream Park and a pair of narrow losses with a nose second in the Grade 3 Dowager in October at Keeneland and a neck second in the Listed Via Borghese in December at Gulfstream.

Forever After All, out of the graded stakes-placed Giant’s Causeway mare Julia Tuttle, is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Tom’s d’Etat.

Rounding out a talented field are the David Donk-trained Edict [post 5, Manny Franco, 118 pounds], a dual Group 1-winner in her native Argentina; Group 3-winner Immensitude [post 2, Junior Alvarado, 118 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott; and two-time winner Miwa [post 4, Dylan Davis, 118 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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