Belmont: Dreaming of Julia yet to hit her peak coming into Frizette

Barbara D. Livingston

Dreaming of Julia (left) won her first two starts on the front end but may have to stalk in Saturday's Frizette.

ELMONT, N.Y. –The scary part about how good Dreaming of Julia has been in her first two starts was what jockey John Velazquez said after she won the Meadow Star Stakes by 16 1/4 lengths at Belmont Park on Sept. 9.

“She just goes through the motions like nothing’s happening,” Velazquez said.

Saturday, Dreaming of Julia gets her sternest test to date when she faces six rivals in the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park.

[BELMONT: Get PPs, watch Saturday handicapping previews]

The Frizette, like the Meadow Star, is run as a one-turn mile. The Frizette is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Dreaming of Julia, a daughter of Grade 1 winners A.P. Indy and Dream Rush, has won her first two starts by 26 3/4 lengths. Pletcher said neither double-digit-length victory was a total surprise to him based on the way Dreaming of Julia was training.

“She trained like she could be extra special,” said Pletcher, who trains Dreaming of Julia for Stonestreet Stables. “Johnny’s sat on her several times. He knows her very well. He feels like there’s more to come.”

[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]

Though she has been on the lead in both of her starts, Dreaming of Julia will likely be in a stalking position Saturday from post 7. My Happy Face and Roveing Patrol may be sent away from the gate by their riders.

My Happy Face, second to Teen Pauline the day that filly set a takes record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga, is coming off a 21 1/4-length victory at Saratoga in her second start. She stretches out from 5 1/2 furlongs to a mile here.

“I believe she can go the distance,” trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. “She’s got a nice body. She’s a nice scopey filly. She looks like she can go all day. And the way she trains in the morning, it looks like we can do whatever we want. We’re going to find out.”

Sweet Shirley Mae finished fifth to So Many Ways in the Schuylerville, then rallied form 15 lengths back under Kent Desormeaux to finish second to So Many Ways in the Grade 1 Spinaway. Trainer Wesley Ward said he instructed Desormeaux to take his filly far back in the Spinaway and make a run.

“If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have wanted to have been that far back,” Ward said. “I’ll leave it up to Joel [Rosario], but I do want to come from off the pace again, just not from that far back. My only hope is that those two [Dreaming of Julia and My Happy Face] hook up and we have a little finish at the end.”

Roveing Patrol, a Washington-bred, went 2 for 2 at Emerald Downs and was purchased privately by Paul Reddam and sent to Ben Cecil.

Toasting, a maiden winner going a mile here Sept. 9; Carameway, winner of a New York-bred maiden here Sept. 13, and Nancy O, a maiden who has raced exclusively on turf at Woodbine; complete the field.