Belmont Park: Dream Peace hoping for soft turf in New York Stakes

Take the 1-2-3-5-8 finishers from last month’s Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay, throw in three new players, and that’s your lineup for Saturday’s $200,000 New York Stakes for fillies and mares.

The Grade 2 New York, scheduled for 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf, is the eighth of 11 races and kicks off a $300,000-guaranteed late pick four. Post time is 4:45 p.m. Eastern.

One of the new faces is the well-traveled Dream Peace, a Group 2 winner on soft turf in France who has been relatively unlucky in North America, finishing in the money five times in such prestigious Grade 1 races as the E.P. Taylor, the Diana, and the Flower Bowl Invitational.

Circumstances conspired against Dream Peace in her 2013 debut, where she ran third as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 3 Beaugay.

“The Beaugay was a little too short for her, and the turf was very firm that day,” trainer Chad Brown said. “Heading into the New York, I would welcome a little bit of rain. She appreciates some give in the ground. I’m not sure I’ll get it, but one way or another, I’m going to run her.”

A representative performance could earn Dream Peace another crack at the Diana, in which she outfinished her stablemate Zagora, the eventual Eclipse Award winner, for second last year.

“Of course, there are some bigger races down the road we’d like to get to, but she really needs to move forward off her first race of the year before I start planning anything,” Brown said. “So far, she’s training really well.”

Lady of Shamrock, a dual Grade 1 winner as a 3-year-old, ships in from Southern California for trainer John Sadler. She has won 7 of 13 starts on turf, all of which have come on firm ground.

“I think she’ll do well on the larger turf course,” Sadler said. “I’m actually looking forward to possibly trying her over less-than-firm ground.”

If the turf comes up soft, as in the Sheepshead Bay, that would benefit Tannery, who slipped through inside of pacesetter Minakshi to grab the lead turning for home and held off a late run from Anjaz to notch her fifth career victory, all on courses rated soft or heavy.

Anjaz lunged at the break to be away slowly, altered course in upper stretch, and finished gamely in her second start in the United States for trainer Tom Albertrani.

“I’ve seen some improvement since her last race, so I’m pretty hopeful coming into the weekend,” Albertrani said. “I don’t think [course conditions] will make a difference.”

Mystical Star, who won this race last year, will try to rebound from a fading fifth in the Sheepshead Bay for trainer Christophe Clement.

Regalo Mia and Starformer, Grade 3 winners at Gulfstream Park earlier this year, round out the field.