Bellafina a maybe for Del Mar Debutante

DEL MAR, Calif. – Bellafina added her name to the long list of 2-year-old fillies who have impressed this summer at Del Mar on Sunday when she ran away to a 4 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes going six furlongs.

The Sorrento is a prep for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante going seven furlongs Sept. 1, but trainer Simon Callaghan said it’s not definite she will run there.

Oh, she came out of the Sorrento just fine, Callaghan said Monday. But Callaghan and owner Kaleem Shah have designs on trying to win an Eclipse Award with Bellafina, so Callaghan said an approach that gets Bellafina to the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs the best way possible is his goal over the next three months.

“We want to work backwards from the Breeders’ Cup,” Callaghan said. “I think going two turns will really be her gig. She’s just doing this on talent. She should be a two-turn filly in the future.

“If she shows us she should run again in the Debutante, she will. But we’ll play it by ear.”

Callaghan won the Debutante last year with Moonshine Memories.

Bellafina, a daughter of Quality Road, was second in her debut but had trained so well here that Callaghan had no qualms about running a maiden against winners in the Sorrento. She added blinkers for the Sorrento.

“They definitely helped her focus,” Callaghan said. “We had been seeing some special things in the mornings, and it was nice to see her put it all together. She’s a filly who’s just going to get better.”