Belvoir Bay brings good credentials into Autumn Miss
ARCADIA, Calif. – When she minds her manners, Belvoir Bay has been unbeatable in California in the last year.
Trained by Peter Miller, Belvoir Bay has won three of her last four starts. She won the Blue Norther Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita last December, the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at a mile on dirt at Del Mar in August, and the Unzip Me Stakes on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course Oct. 1.
The only setback in that span was a 10th-place finish in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar in July, when she drifted out badly with a quarter-mile remaining.
The last two wins have erased the disappointment of that loss, leading to high hopes for Belvoir Bay in Saturday’s $100,000 Autumn Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.
“She’s pretty cool and pretty versatile,” Miller said.
Owned by the Team Valor International partnership and Gary Barber, Belvoir Bay has won 5 of 10 starts and earned $194,776 in a career that began in England.
There are three 2016 stakes winners among the 10 fillies in the Autumn Miss, but Belvoir Bay is the only graded stakes winner. Barleysugar won the Sandy Blue Handicap at Del Mar in July, and Dreamarcher won the Wine Country Stakes at Santa Rosa in July.
Autumn Miss, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Belvoir Bay, by Equiano
Last 3 Beyers: 87-82-48
◗ Belvoir Bay is quick. She led throughout the Torrey Pines and Unzip Me stakes.
◗ In the $78,835 Unzip Me, Belvoir Bay set a torrid pace – 21.38 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 43.48 for a half-mile – and held on to win by a half-length over Miss Katie Mae. Nodiac, third in that race, is part of the Autumn Miss field.
“She was flying early from the inside and sprinting, and that’s not her game,” Miller said of the Unzip Me. “I think a mile is her best distance. She’s fast, she’s tactical, and she does not need the lead.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Belvoir Bay. Trainer Peter Miller is 32-0-1-2 over the past five years going sprint to route on turf in stakes races. – Mike Hogan
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Danilovna, by Dansili
Last 3 Beyers: 87-NA-NA
◗ The Autumn Miss will be the stakes debut for Danilovna, a winner in England last year and in an optional claimer at Belmont Park on Sept. 22 in her first start in the United States. Trained by Graham Motion for Bjorn Nielsen, Danilovna showed a rapid turn of foot to win the 1 1/16-mile optional claimer by a neck at Belmont.
“I think it was an impressive race the way she did it,” Motion said.
◗ In England, Danilovna won her debut last November but was fifth and fourth as the favorite in two minor handicaps for fillies in May and July when trained by David Lanigan.
“They were always slightly disappointed in her,” he said. “She showed much more in the morning.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Davilovna. Trainer Graham Motion is 16-4-3-1 with a $4.11 ROI over the past five years with last-out winners in turf route graded stakes in Southern California. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan