Bellafina takes up the challenge in Ballerina
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saturday’s Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga lost some of its luster with the news that Guarana and Mia Mischief, the first and second finishers in the Grade 1 Madison last month at Keeneland, would both be bypassing the event.
But the field for the seven-furlong Ballerina still came up strong when it was drawn Wednesday. The field is led by 123-pound highweight Serengeti Empress, defending champion Come Dancing (121), and West Coast invader Bellafina (121), who ships locally for a second time after having finished third as the tepid favorite a year ago in the Grade 1 Test.
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Bellafina has three Grade 1 wins and a second-place finish in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint when beaten just three-quarters of a length by Covfefe, arguably her best performance. It certainly was her strongest effort from a Beyer Speed Figure standpoint, with the 103 she earned that day easily her highest. She has a win and a second in three starts this season and faces her sternest test of the year in the Ballerina.
“There was a Grade 3 out here, but with her résumé, obviously we want to aim at the prestigious Grade 1 races when we can,” trainer Simon Callaghan said by phone from Del Mar on Wednesday when explaining the reasoning behind shipping Bellafina across the country once again. “We’ve been really happy with the filly. She’s been training forwardly at Del Mar. We knew the Ballerina wasn’t going to be a very big field and one with a lot of talented mares, but no real standouts.”
Callaghan said Bellafina’s first trip to the Spa last summer didn’t pan out as hoped.
“I left the blinkers off that day and maybe she wasn’t quite as sharp as she could have been,” said Callaghan, who has run Bellafina with blinkers in all six of her starts since the Test, including the Breeders’ Cup.
Jose Ortiz will ride Bellafina for the first time Saturday.
The remainder of the field is Pink Sands (119), Victim of Love (119), Cookie Dough (118), and Letruska (117).
The Ballerina is a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.