Bellezza looks for some black type in Sheepshead Bay
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Bellezza, a 4-year-old filly trained by Christophe Clement, will be a new face in a short field when she makes her North American debut in the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay Stakes on Friday at Aqueduct. The stakes race, run at 1 3/8 miles on turf, is the first of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.
Clement’s Irish-bred filly spent the last month working at Payson Park training center in Florida, where assistant trainer Miguel Clement had the opportunity to prepare her.
“She had several good pieces of work in the morning on the grass,” Miguel Clement said. “As a result, even though it’s ambitious, we decided it’s worth a swing because any sort of graded stakes black type is an achievement off the layoff.”
Bellezza ran in stakes competition throughout her 3-year-old campaign for trainer Ger Lyons in Ireland. After finishing ninth in the Group 2 Blandford at The Curragh, she made her last start in September and won the Diamond Stakes against male runners on synthetic at Dundalk.
She was often forwardly placed against her European counterparts, which could be an asset in Friday’s race. Jaime Rodriguez, the leading rider at Laurel Park, will get the high-profile mount as many New York jockeys travel to Churchill Downs this weekend.
Besides Bellezza and Amanda’s Folly, a 5-year-old mare entered for the main track only, the remaining four runners in the Sheepshead Bay have all recently raced against one another in one of two Grade 3 stakes at Gulfstream Park – The Very One or Orchid.
Both races were won by South African-bred Beach Bomb, a 5-year-old mare trained by Graham Motion. After finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf last year, Beach Bomb returned from a long winter break and won her first two races in North America in gate-to-wire fashion.
After rushing her to the Breeders’ Cup on a shortened schedule last year, Motion said he is taking a patient approach this year. She will be the horse to beat in her third straight Grade 3 stakes attempt on Friday.
The 6-year-old mare La Mehana, Bellezza’s stablemate, finished third behind Beach Bomb in both recent stakes, missing by a neck in the Orchid on March 29. The winner of the Grade 3 Waya last year has now finished third in three straight Grade 3 races to kick off her 6-year-old campaign.
Miguel Clement praised her for her consistency and believes in Kendrick Carmouche, her rider in the Waya last year, but he’s concerned about the pace in another short field.
“I expect the turf to be firm by this weekend, and it seems like it’s going to be another paceless affair,” Clement said. “We might be compromised again.”
Silvology, a 4-year-old filly trained by Shug McGaughey, improved in her stakes debut to finish second by a head in the Orchid last time out.
Whatlovelookslike, a 6-year-old mare trained by Todd Pletcher, finished sixth in the The Very One and rounds out the field of five entered on turf.
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