Belmont Stakes Friday : Grade 2’s Wonder Again, Bed o’ Roses Previews

Posted On 01 Jun 2026

By Keith McCalmont —-

Chad Brown saddles strong pair in Fitz Right, Tax Holiday in G2 Wonder Again presented by Shift4

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Fitz Right and Tax Holiday as he looks to secure a record-extending seventh score in Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again presented by Shift4, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf route for sophomore fillies during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Wonder Again is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 14-race program, which includes the Grade 1, $500,000 DraftKings Acorn [Race 10], Grade 1, $750,000 New York [Race 11], the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 12], and the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses presented by Boldyn Networks [Race 4]. First post is 11:45 a.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 10 a.m.

Fitz Right and Tax Holiday will look to add to Brown’s past Wonder Again winners which include Lady Eli [2015], New Money Honey [2017], Cambier Parc [2019], Consumer Spending [2022], Prerequisite [2023] and Segesta [2024].

Michael Dubb, William Lawrence, The Elkstone Group and Michael Kisber’s Fitz Right [post 2, Flavien Prat] took a big step forward last out, stalking and pouncing to a 3 1/2-length score in the Listed Memories of Silver on April 26 over yielding ground at Aqueduct Racetrack.

There, the Charlatan chestnut settled in fifth-of-6 and just three lengths off the pace of Grade 3-placed Imperatrice before rallying four-wide at the top of the lane and taking command at the sixteenth pole en route to a geared-down score in a final time of 1:40.50. The winning effort registered a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure and improved her record to 2-for-2 in 2026.

“She looks to keep moving forward. I like the way she’s going,” Brown said.

The $200,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase closed out her juvenile campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Listed Chelsey Flower in November at the Big A, but returned victorious in January over good ground at Tampa Bay Downs to romp by 5 1/2-lengths in an optional-claiming route.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Fitz Right is out of the Grade 3-winning Henny Hughes mare I’m a Looker, making her a half-sister to stakes-placed Eliminate.

Klaravich Stables’ British-bred Tax Holiday [post 4, Dylan Davis] will make her stakes debut from a game neck graduation at second asking traveling one-mile over firm footing on April 16 at the Big A. There, she saved ground in third position under Dylan Davis before making a three-wide run into the lane to put away pacesetting Angels Envy, who herded Tax Holiday out a path. Tax Holiday stayed on strong to the wire and was able to fend off stablemate Academia for the narrow win in a final time of 1:39.69 and earn a 72 Beyer.

Tax Holiday, a $242,044 purchase from the 2024 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, failed to fire in her February debut at Tampa Bay Downs but has trained forwardly over the Oklahoma dirt training track out of her maiden score.

“She’s been slow to come around. She’s a beautiful horse and I think her best days are ahead of her,” Brown said. “She’s moving forward, but the way she’s been training the last couple of weeks she deserves to step right up.”

Tax Holiday is out of the Street Cry mare Secret Soul, a half-sister to dual Group 1-winning millionaires Mogul and Japan as well as Group 2-winner and multiple Group 1-placed Secret Gesture. Tax Holiday’s second dam, Shastye, is a half-sister to 1998 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winner Sagamix.

Emcee Stable’s Lion Lake [post 8, John Velazquez] has won two of her last four outings, including a pair of third-place misses by a neck in graded company for trainer Brendan Walsh.

The Irish-bred Dark Angel grey graduated in in January at Gulfstream Park and followed with a head score one month later in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at the Hallandale Beach oval.

Lion Lake shipped to Kentucky for her most recent two efforts, closing to finish a neck third in the one-mile Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland before missing by the same margin last out when completing the trifecta in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Edgewood on Kentucky Oaks Day May 1 at Churchill Downs.

The $162,366 purchase from Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, out of the Cape Cross mare Urjuwaan, is a full-sister to dual Group 1-winner Alfareeq.

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Quiet Street [post 1, Junior Alvarado] enters from a third-place effort in the Listed Memories of Silver for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The Street Boss chestnut won her first two career starts, taking a 5 1/2-furlong maiden sprint in August at Spa ahead of a rallying one-length score in the 6 1/2-furlong Untapable in September at Kentucky Downs. She completed her juvenile campaign with a third-place try in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Miss Grillo in October at Belmont at the Big A.

Quiet Street opened her current campaign with a troubled off-the-board finish in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Limestone in April at Keeneland ahead of a prominent run when stretched out in the Memories of Silver.

Out of the winning Tapit mare Serene, Quiet Street’s second dam – the dual Grade 1-placed Fascinating – is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner and sire Bodemeister.

Repole Stable’s Time to Dream [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] is a perfect 2-for-2 at the Spa for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The Not This Time dark bay graduated in July traveling one-mile and followed with a rallying five-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile Listed P.G. Johnson one month later. The $750,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase closed from ninth and 6 1/4-lengths off the pace to finish a one-length third in the Grade 2 Jessamine in October at Keeneland before an off-the-board try in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.

Time to Dream closed to finish second in her seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs when 1 1/4-lengths back of Dandona. She enters from an off-the-board run in the Edgewood.

Time to Dream, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Red Carpet Ready, is out of the unraced Street Sense mare Wild Silk, who is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Joking.

Completing a talented group are Coach Mazzula [post 3, Manny Franco], a frontrunning winner last out of the Listed Hilltop for trainer Brittany Russell; stakes-placed Soloist [post 6, Jose Ortiz] for conditioner Ken McPeek; and maiden winner Call On Me [post 7, Luis Saez] for trainer Rusty Arnold. Pashmina is entered for the main-track only.

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Ways and Means headlines G2 Bed o’ Roses presented by Boldyn Networks

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Klaravich Stables’ Kentucky homebred Ways and Means seeks a title defense in Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, Ways and Means boasts a 5-4-1-0 record at the Spa, including wins in the 2024 Grade 1 Test and a 7 3/4-length romp in last year’s Bed o’ Roses over eventual Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff-winner Scylla.

Brown said he’s pleased to have Ways and Means back for a 5-year-old campaign which he hopes will conclude with a win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in October at Keeneland – a race he has captured a record three times with Wavell Avenue [2015] and Goodnight Olive [2022-23]

“I’d like her to be a Champion. I want to see her win the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. I’ve won the race three times and she’s as good as any of them,” Brown said. “It’s a little extra special that she’s a homebred. She’s been a super talent since the day she stepped in the barn.”

Ways and Means [post 3, Flavien Prat] enters from the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 2 at Churchill Downs where she landed a 2 1/4-length second in her seasonal debut to the pacesetting R Disaster, who was making her third start of the campaign. The Derby City Distaff third-place finisher Usha returned to win the Grade 3 Winning Colors while fourth-place Splendora captured Saturday’s Grade 2 Shawnee at Churchill.

Brown said the Churchill Downs effort will benefit Ways and Means.

“She’s doing super. I had two fillies that really needed runs at Churchill that are doing really well – Ways and Means and Fully Subscribed,” Brown said. “They both got the races they needed. They were running on speed tracks that day, tracking and couldn’t go by. They got a good blow out of it, and it will move them forward.”

Fully Subscribed, who ran second to Shred the Gnar a day earlier on the Kentucky Oaks undercard in the Grade 1 La Troienne, is entered in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford on Friday’s Spa card.

Brown said he’s hopeful that Flavien Prat can work out a clean trip for Ways and Means when they exit post 3 in the six-horse field.

“I’m hoping to see her break good and put herself in a good spot,” Brown said.

Ways and Means is by the Brown-trained and Klaravich co-campaigned dual Spa Grade 1-winner Practical Joke and out of the stakes-winning Warrior’s Reward mare Strong Incentive, who also produced graded stakes-winners Surge Capacity and Highly Motivated for the same connections.

Don Alberto Stable’s Kentucky homebred Senza Parole [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] will turn back in distance for Brown following three tries at one-mile or greater this year, including a 7 1/4-length score in her seasonal debut traveling a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park.

The 4-year-old Gun Runner chestnut made her next two outings around two turns, finishing off-the-board after being checked at the start in the Grade 3 Royal Delta in February at Gulfstream and a one-length second to Group 3-winner Queen Azteca last out on April 17 at Keeneland.

Brown said he’s hopeful a cutback will help Senza Parole return to the form of her spectacular debut in August 2024 here when romping by 7 3/4-lengths and earning a career-best 94 Beyer in a six-furlong maiden sprint.

“I was just trying to figure her out. She got hurt as a 2-year-old and when she came back it was hard for me to find her form and what she wants to do,” Brown explained. “So, we’re going back to the basics a little bit. Early in her career at Saratoga she sprinted very well. I’m going to bring her back to doing something I know she’s done well before.”

Out of the winning Street Cry mare Senza Te, Senza Parole’s second dam is graded stakes-winner Sacristy, who produced Grade 1-placed Flor De La Mar, and is a half-sister to Mozu Superflare – a Group 1-winning millionaire in Japan.

Bell Tower Thoroughbreds, Medallion Racing and Mark Stanton’s Grand Job [post 1, Junior Alvarado] has found a new level in her 5-year-old campaign for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The Justify mare took down the seven-furlong Grade 2 Inside Information in her seasonal debut on January 24 at Gulfstream Park and followed last out with a nose second to Eclatant in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Madison on April 4 at Keeneland. She earned a 108 Beyer in the narrow defeat.

The Kentucky-bred bay launched her career as a juvenile in Ireland for trainer Joseph O’Brien before joining the Mott barn for her sophomore season that saw her graduate at first asking in October 2024 at Belmont at the Big A and follow in December with an allowance score versus elders at Churchill. She made three starts last year, including a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Royal Delta and an optional-claiming score, both at Gulfstream Park.

Grand Job, initially purchased for $105,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the multiple stakes-placed Ishiguru mare Sure Route.

A talented field includes dual graded stakes-winner Praying [post 5, John Velazquez], who was third last out in the Grade 3 Vagrancy for trainer Robert Medina; graded stakes-winner Scalable [post 2, Kendrick Carmouche] for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher; and stakes-winner Vincey Girl [post 6, Luis Saez] for conditioner Jose D’Angelo.

The Bed o’ Roses is slated as Race 4 on Friday’s 14-race program, which includes the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 12], the Grade 1 DraftKings Acorn [Race 10], the Grade 1 New York [Race11], and the Grade 2 Wonder Again presented by Shift4 [Race 9]. First post is 11:45 a.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 10 a.m.