Bella Sofia looks loose on the lead in Bed o' Roses

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Grade 2 for $300,000 got four. Yep – 18 older fillies and mares were nominated to the Bed o’ Roses Stakes but only four passed the entry box Sunday. Thus, this seven-furlong fixture for female sprinters, hardly a grand wagering event, is placed as race 3 on the Friday program at Belmont Park.

Two Bed o’ Roses trainers have one burning question: Who goes with Bella Sofia?

“I wish there were a little more speed in there,” said Charlton Baker, trainer of the streaking mare Glass Ceiling, a winner of four straight – three stakes, two graded.

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Bill Mott, who trains the eminently capable Obligatory, has similar thoughts. “I guess Obligatory is always going to be somewhat a victim of pace, or a lack thereof,” he said. “It’s a nice group of fillies. Of course, the one that has beat us before is Bella Sofia. I guess that’s the one everyone is concerned about.”

To be fair, Obligatory didn’t run to her best form when she finished fifth, beaten eight lengths by victorious Bella Sofia, in the Grade 1 Test last summer at Saratoga.

It’s also fair to wonder how any of her three rivals can handle Bella Sofia if the filly who might have the most talent in the race also is allowed to dictate tempo in the race.

Mott nearly beat Bella Sofia here May 14 in the Vagrancy Handicap with Frank’s Rockette. Bella Sofia was racing for the first time in 5 1/2 months, while Frank’s Rockette had run six weeks earlier, that following a start in December. Bella Sofia gave Frank’s Rockette three pounds and dueled Miss Brazil into submission before turning back an inside challenge from Frank’s Rockette, who’d gotten a sweet stalking trip.

The Vagrancy showed Bella Sofia had trained on as a 4-year-old, good to see after the filly finished a flat fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint to cap a very successful 3-year-old campaign. Gamine finished third as the odds-on favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint, won from well off the pace by highly capable Ce Ce.

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“We didn’t break good and she was stuck outside Gamine. She never really had a chance to run her race,” said Rudy Rodriguez, who trains Bella Sofia.

Even Rodriguez considered passing the Bed o’ Roses, short field and all. The race comes one month after the Vagrancy, and Rodriguez said he prefers to give his high-quality sprinters more time between starts. In the end, Bella Sofia told him she was ready.

“She’s stronger now. I think she’s more relaxed, easier on herself this year,” Rodriguez said.

Bella Sofia, 4-1-0 from five Belmont starts, has looked comfortable with pressing and stalking trips, but her 111 TimeformUS early pace number – as well as the naked past performances – says she’ll lead and control the pace Friday. Easy to Bless, drawn just outside Bella Sofia, has the best chance to force the issue, but this is a longshot whose connections surely would be more interested in earning a graded stakes placing than ensuring honest fractions.

Bad news,especially for Obligatory, who did show more speed than usual winning the first start of her 4-year-old season two races ago at Gulfstream Park. Obligatory did get a very favorable race flow winning the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff on May 7, but don’t fail to note her final furlong clocking of 11.66 was more than a half-second faster than the next-quickest finishing split. And while Obligatory does love her some Churchill Downs dirt, she raced very effectively a year ago finishing second to Search Results in the Grade 1 Acorn on the Belmont undercard.

Glass Ceiling, transformed since being claimed by Baker and co-owner Michael Foster in May 2021, easily beat Search Results in her most recent outing, the April 9 Distaff over seven furlongs at Aqueduct. But last July, Bella Sofia smacked Glass Ceiling around in a Belmont allowance race, beating her by more than six lengths. Glass Ceiling has gotten better since then, but so might have Bella Sofia.

“My filly, she’s improving all the time. She looks the part,” said Baker. “Bella Sofia might be loose.”

Loose – and likely long gone.