Belmont Park: Asiya scales back in Dream Rush Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – After a failed attempt in the Grade 1 Cotillion around two turns at Parx, Asiya takes a drop in class and distance when she heads a field of eight 3-year-old fillies entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Dream Rush Stakes going seven furlongs at Belmont Park.

Despite Asiya’s sixth-place finish in the Cotillion at 1 1/16 miles last month, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has not backed off his belief that Asiya can go a distance of ground. But this seven-furlong race came up perfectly in both time and distance for the daughter of Daaher.

“Spacing-wise, back to seven-eighths, non-winners of a sweepstakes, straight 3-year-olds, this race hits us perfectly,” McLaughlin said. “If it was a mile and a sixteenth, we would have still run in it.”

Last Dec. 9, in her second career start, Asiya won a seven-furlong maiden race by 11 lengths in the slop over Aqueduct’s main track. She made her next start in the Busanda where she ran into Princess of Sylmar and where, in deep stretch, she was run into by Ruby Lips. Asiya finished third, but was placed second. She came out of that race with a knee chip that needed to be surgically removed.

In her return, on Aug. 14 at Saratoga, Asiya won a first-level allowance race going 6 1/2 furlongs by 8 1/4 lengths.

“She’s quite talented; we think she’s a graded stakes filly at some point if everything goes well,” McLaughlin said.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Asiya from post 4.

Uno Duo, a daughter of Macho Uno trained by Bill Mott, won a first-level allowance race by six lengths at Saratoga on July 21. Sidelined by a sore foot, according to Mott, this will be her first start since then.

“She’s really come a long way,” Mott said. “She’s not a real fast work horse; early on you’d never guess she’d be in a stakes in New York. It’s one of those pleasant surprises.”

The same could probably be said for Guard the Empire, a filly who finished ninth in her debut at Gulfstream for maiden $50,000 claiming. She was taken out of the race by owner Tim O’Donohue, who turned her over to Maryland-based trainer John Robb. After nearly five months away from the races, Guard the Empire won a maiden race at Delaware and overcame a bad stumble to win an allowance race at Laurel on Sept. 20.

“When he sent her up to me, her shins were bugging her and she was 500 pounds overweight,” Robb said. “She won both of her races easy and I figured a stakes against straight 3-year-olds might be easier than taking on older horses in an allowance race. She deserves a shot.”

Merry Meadow, with seven seconds from 13 starts; Toasting, second in an overnight stakes at Saratoga in August; Miss Mischief; I’mclassyandsassy; and Saturday Nthe Park complete the field.