Belmont: Sunny Desert returns to route in Judy Soda

Adam Coglianese/NYRA

Sunny Desert will make her first start at one mile since breaking her maiden at Aqueduct in March.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though Sunny Desert has won her last two starts sprinting, trainer John Parisella has always felt the 3-year-old filly is better going a route of ground.

Friday, Sunny Desert gets the chance to stretch out to a mile for the first time since winning a maiden race at Aqueduct by 15 1/4 lengths in March when she runs in the $85,000 Judy Soda Stakes at Belmont Park.

Sunny Desert, a daughter of Wild Desert, takes on seven rivals in the Judy Soda, carded as the fifth of nine races here on Friday.

Parisella claimed Sunny Desert for $35,000 last Dec. 7 on behalf of Max and Saul Kupferberg. In 5 starts since, Sunny Desert has 3 wins and 2 seconds with earnings of $149,000. After running second twice over Aqueduct’s inner track, Sunny Desert won a mile maiden race over Aqueduct’s main track on March 25, a division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont in May, and a second-level New York-bred allowance at Saratoga in July. Easy Ending, the horse Sunny Desert defeated in that July 30 race, came back to win Wednesday’s opener, a second-level statebred allowance by 3 3/4 lengths.

Parisella said he had a race picked out for Sunny Desert at the end of the Saratoga meet, but the race didn’t fill. However, Parisella doesn’t mind having six weeks between starts.

“She’s the kind of filly where I want her races spaced out,” Parisella said. “This way I have her for the winter. I think she’ll be a dangerous filly this winter.”

One reason Parisella likes the longer distances for Sunny Desert is because of her early speed.

“She’s fast going a distance and that’s what I like,” said Parisella, who has Ramon Dominguez to ride from post 4. “She’ll probably be on the lead.”

Shesabronxbomber, I Bet Toni Knows, and Hot Splash all go turf-to-dirt in this spot. Shesabronxbomber, whose two wins have come on dirt, was beaten a neck in the slop at Saratoga before finishing fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths in a second-level statebred allowance on turf on Aug. 17.

I Bet Toni Knows won the Cupecoy’s Joy divison of the New York Stallion Stakes going seven furlongs on turf at Belmont on June 3. She was scratched out of the Statue of Liberty Division Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 9 after hitting herself in the gate and sustaining superficial cuts. She has since been transferred to Rudy Rodriguez as her previous trainer, Eric Reed, did not return to New York for the fall. I Bet Toni Knows won a pair of six-furlong races over Aqueduct’s inner track during the winter.

Hot Splash scratched out of a second-level allowance here on Wednesday for this spot. Hot Splash is 2 for 3 at a mile, including an allowance win here in June.

Mom’s Law and Mischief Maker, the first- and third-place finishers in the New York Oaks at Finger Lakes, are also in with a chance.