Brown regards Lady Eli as Eclipse Award candidate

ELMONT, N.Y. - Lady Eli’s dominant victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational not only kept her unbeaten but continued to validate the belief of her trainer, Chad Brown, that she is the “best filly of her age group” regardless of surface.

Brown felt that way last year too and thought Lady Eli should have been voted the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly when Lady Eli went 3 for 3, capped by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The championship went to Take Charge Brandi, who upset the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on dirt and then added two more graded stakes wins to her resume by year’s end.

Lady Eli is 3 for 3 this year and captured her first Grade 1 of the season in the Oaks. She defeated 13 fillies and ran nearly two seconds faster than did Force the Pass winning the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby for 3-year-old males, though the pace in the Derby was considerably slower. Still, Lady Eli did it while losing valuable ground down the backside and in the stretch.

“Her best race to date,” Brown said Sunday morning. “She got a wide trip in the race, but a good trip, a clean trip. She ran like she was tons of the best - giving some ground up just to stay out of trouble and then putting everyone away. I was super impressed with her.”

Lady Eli earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for her Oaks win.

Brown hopes that if Lady Eli continues her winning ways that she will be considered for an Eclipse Award for 3-year-old filly honors, though that award typically goes to a dirt filly. In 2006, Wait a While was voted champion 3-year-old filly after winning three graded stakes on turf _ including two Grade 1s _ and two graded events on dirt, one which was rained off the turf to the dirt.

“Do I think she’s the best 3-year-old filly in the country?’ Absolutely,” Brown said. “What does she need to do to win an Eclipse Award? I have no idea.”

Brown said he is not making a division championship the focus of Lady Eli’s season. He is a proponent of the Breeders’ Cup and will map out a plan to have her ready for the Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31. Lady Eli earned a fees-paid berth into the Filly and Mare Turf by virtue of her Belmont Oaks victory as part of the Win and You’re In program.

Brown said Lady Eli’s final prep for the Filly and Mare Turf will come in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Oct. 10 at Keeneland. Lady Eli kicked of her 3year-old season with a victory in the Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland.

Where Lady Eli makes her next start is the only unanswered question. There is the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid at Saratoga on Aug. 14 which keeps her facing just 3-year-old fillies. There is also the Grade 1, $700,000 Beverly D. at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, which would mean a ship and a test against older fillies and mares.

“I obviously think she’s good enough to run against older albeit if it’s now or if she just waits for the Breeders’ Cup to do it,” Brown said.

If Lady Eli goes to Arlington Park for the Beverly D., she could find Force the Pass, upset winner of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational on the Arlington backstretch. Force the Pass, who sustained a move from the three-eighths pole to the wire under Joel Rosario to win the Derby by 3 3/4 lengths, could make his next start in the Grade 1, $450,000 Secretariat on the Aug. 15 program.

Trainer Alan Goldberg said he would be inclined to wait for the fall races, but owner Richard Santulli may not be as patient.

“On the drive home he said ‘Something could happen, why do you want to wait?’ ” Goldberg said. “So, I’m not sure. I guess if anything it would be the Secretariat, but we’ll see. I was thinking the fall is where you want to be.”

The Grade 1 Secretariat, like the Belmont Derby, is run at 1 1/4 miles.

Force the Pass, who earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory, “came back fine,” Goldberg said.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens was non-committal on what was next for Suburban winner Effinex, though he said the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 8 will be under consideration.

“You can’t rule it out,” Jerkens said.

Effinex outlasted 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist by a head in the Suburban, where both made strong middle moves into fast fractions to reach contention. Effinex had to steady slightly at the 4 1/2-furlong marker, which actually may have benefitted him in the long run.

The Suburban was a huge turnaround for Effinex, who was eased in the Brooklyn on Belmont Stakes Day when he tried to bear out. Jerkens changed bits on the horse and Jerkens also felt Effinex could have been negatively impacted by the large crowd on Belmont Stakes Day.

“Don’t put anything past him. He’s a little tougher than your average horse in a lot of ways,” Jerkens said. “He’s got a little bit of an attitude to him but he loves to train. He’s relentless. The three stakes he’s won for us, he didn’t stop til he got the money.”

Christophe Clement said Tonalist, the Suburban runner-up, would be pointed to the Whitney. Clement was disappointed with the result, but not the effort his horse put forth. After sitting back off fast fractions, John Velazquez made a strong move into a 24-second third quarter and the horse was still involved at the finish.

“Disappointed he got beat, disappointed the race was against him. We’ll live to fight another day,” Clement said. “Plan is to still go to the Whitney.”

Speightster and Texas Red, the one-two finishers of the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes, will be heading their separate ways. Speightster, who is 3 for 3 for Bill Mott and WinStar Farm, will likely train up to the Grade 1 King’s Bishop on Aug. 29 while Texas Red will be pointed to the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on Aug. 2. Speightster earned a 104 Beyer while Texas Red was assigned a 99.

Trainer Jorge Navarro said Private Zone came out of his 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship in good shape. Navarro said he would prefer to run Private Zone just one more time between now and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and said he would talk to the owners to determine if that race will be the Forego at Saratoga on Aug. 29 or the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont on Oct. 3.

Private Zone, who earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in the victory, has won each of the last two runnings of the Grade 1 Vosburgh on Sept. 26.

Private Zone is based at Monmouth Park as is Irish Jasper, winner of the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes. Trainer and owner Derek Ryan said Irish Jasper, who earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga on Aug. 8.