Belmont Park: Princess of Sylmar a go for Breeders' Cup Distaff

ELMONT, N.Y. – Owner Ed Stanco completed his 180-degree odyssey to the Breeders’ Cup, and now his sensational 3-year-old filly, Princess of Sylmar, will travel 3,000 miles to compete in the $2 million Distaff on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

Stanco and trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed Princess of Sylmar for the Distaff following her half-mile breeze in 48.42 seconds Saturday over the Belmont Park training track.

“We’re going,” said Stanco, adding that Pletcher described the work to him in one word: “excellent.”

Princess of Sylmar, under exercise rider Annie Finney, got her final quarter in 23.64 seconds, finishing about a half-length in front of workmate Tiz Chris. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.62.

In the summer, Stanco said there was “no way, no how” that Princess of Sylmar would run in the Breeders’ Cup. Stanco’s concern was that a race like that could compromise her 4-year-old campaign.

But Princess of Sylmar, who has won four consecutive Grade 1 races, continues to thrive since her victory over multiple champion Royal Delta in the Grade 1 Beldame here Sept. 28.

Stanco said he “could never stay home and watch the race on TV with her sitting in the barn if she was ready to go and have people after the race say she should have been there. Well, we’re all in.”

Pletcher, who also has Authenticity set to run in the Distaff, said he saw no reason to end Princess of Sylmar’s 3-year-old season after the Beldame.

“Generally, my philosophy is when you don’t need to stop, why stop?” he said. “There’s always going to be plenty of reasons when you have to. At the same time, there was no urgency to commit to running when she crossed the wire in the Beldame.”

With a r é sum é that includes victories in the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, and Beldame, Princess of Sylmar virtually had clinched the 3-year-old filly championship. But in the Distaff, she will face fellow 3-year-olds Beholder and Close Hatches – the latter being the lone horse to beat Princess of Sylmar this year – and could risk her championship. Conversely, if she were to win the Distaff and Game On Dude and Wise Dan lose their respective races, Princess of Sylmar could be a legitimate Horse of the Year candidate.

“That is absolutely a possibility, but we weren’t really trading up for that because that’s pretty tough,” Stanco said. “You got Wise Dan and Game On Dude; they’re pretty serious players. It was really more a question of do we want to race her, do we want to race her for everybody else? Then there’s one other factor – this winning Grade 1 races gets pretty addicting.”

Two of Princess of Sylmar’s primary rivals for the Distaff – both trained by Bill Mott – worked Saturday over Belmont’s main track. Royal Delta, the two-time defending Distaff winner, worked five furlongs in 59.88 seconds, getting her final quarter in 23.81 under exercise rider Rodolphe Brisset.

“I just see her continuing on a good path and breezing the same way she always does when she runs well,” Mott said.

Close Hatches, coming off a two-length victory in the Grade 1 Cotillion, worked five furlongs in 1:00.42, with her final quarter in 23.63 seconds. In the Distaff, Close Hatches will be making her eighth start of the year but just her second in 4 1/2 months.

“The fact she’s come along and won a couple of Grade 1’s is quite a feather in her cap,” Mott said.

Emollient, another 3-year-old filly trained by Mott with a trio of Grade 1 victories on her r é sum é , worked a half-mile in 48.16 seconds over the main track in preparation for the Filly and Mare Turf.

Ron the Greek, the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, worked a half-mile in 48.52 seconds, getting his final quarter in 23.93 under exercise rider Steve Schmez.

“He was very good,” Mott said. “He was on the bridle, carrying him along very well, maybe not as fast as last week, but he went well. He looked like he was moving fine at the wire and galloped out pretty good for him.”

Sweet Reason, the Grade 1 Spinaway winner, worked four furlongs in 49.45 seconds under jockey Alex Solis, with a final quarter in 24.40 over the training track.

In the only work over the turf, Spring to the Sky, a contender for the Turf Sprint, went five furlongs in 1:00.20, getting his final three furlongs in 34.23 seconds.

In other works:

◗ Verrazano (Dirt Mile) and Capo Bastone (Turf Sprint) worked five furlongs together in 1:00.75 over the training track.

◗ Dirt Mile probables Easter Gift and Last Gunfighter went four furlongs together in 47.54, galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.07.

◗ Juvenile Fillies longshot Ria Antonia, fifth in the Frizette, worked five furlongs in 59.80 over the training track under jockey Javier Castellano. She was equipped in blinkers, which she will wear for the first time in the race.