Unrivaled Belle headed for Beldame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Unrivaled Belle, second as the favorite in the Grade 1 Ruffian Invitational here on Aug. 1, will make her next start in the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont Park on Oct. 2, trainer Bill Mott confirmed Tuesday.

Mott had been toying with the idea of cutting Unrivaled Belle back to a sprint distance to see if she would be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Mott thought the Grade 1 Ballerina, run at seven furlongs here last Saturday, was too close to her last race, and doesn’t see any other sprint options on the schedule that fits his filly.

Mott said that now he is more likely to keep Unrivaled Belle on a path to the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic rather than the Filly-Mare Sprint. Unrivaled Belle did defeat Rachel Alexandra in the La Troienne at Churchill in the spring going two turns.

“We’d be more apt to do that than the seven-eighths, though we want to keep the seven eighths in mind,” Mott said.

On Tuesday, Unrivaled Belle worked four furlongs in 49.00 seconds over the Oklahoma training track.

Mott worked several other stakes horses on Tuesday. Proviso, the Diana winner, worked four furlongs in 48.60 seconds. She is under consideration for either the First Lady on Oct. 9 or the Spinster the following day. Both races are at Keeneland. Proviso was disqualified from first place in last year’s Spinster.

Courageous Cat, on the comeback trail after a disappointing race in Dubai in March, worked five furlongs in 1:02 in company with the Mott-trained Strike Again. Courageous Cat will be pointed for a race next month – possibly the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland – as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a race in which he finished second last year.