Belmont Park: Pletcher unleashes promising 2-year-olds

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher unleashed a pair of good-looking 2-year-olds this week at Belmont Park, with Yes Liz, a daughter of Yes It’s True, winning a five-furlong maiden race Wednesday by 3 3/4 lengths and All in Blue, a son of More Than Ready, winning a five-furlong maiden race by 6 1/4 lengths Thursday.

Yes Liz, a $200,000 purchase by Stonestreet Stables at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training, dueled with She’s Coal Fired, put that one away, and then turned back the challenge of Majestic Serenade. Yes Liz ran five furlongs over a “good” track in 57.99 seconds and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 72.

“When that horse loomed up outside of her, I said, ‘We’ll find out how fit she is,’ ” Pletcher said. “When Johnny [Velazquez] asked her, she kept on going, finished up nicely.”

Known for giving his horses plenty of time between starts, Pletcher might start Yes Liz in the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on Aug. 11. However, he wouldn’t “absolutely rule out” running her back in the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville on July 19. Pletcher does have Elena Strikes, who won a maiden race at Monmouth on June 22 for Stonestreet and also could point to the Schuylerville.

Pletcher said he would nominate Yes Liz to the Grade 2, $200,000 Sanford, open to colts and fillies, on July 21 as a way to possibly keep the two Stonestreet fillies from running against each other.

On Thursday, the juvenile colt All in Blue, a $155,000 yearling purchase last summer at Saratoga, ran six rivals off their feet en route to a 6 1/4-length victory for Starlight Racing. All in Blue, under Javier Castellano, ran five furlongs in 57.51. The Sanford or the Saratoga Special on Aug. 11 would be logical next-race targets.