Cartwheelin Lulu scores front-running win in Joseph A. Gimma

ELMONT, N.Y. – The speed that Cartwheelin Lulu used to beat up on the boys at Finger Lakes last month she brought south to Belmont Park on Wednesday and used it to beat her own gender in the $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes.

Making the lead soon after the start under John Velazquez, Cartwheelin Lulu turned back all challengers in the lane to win the Gimma by 1 1/2 lengths. More Mischief won a three-way photo for second by a nose over Elegant Zip, the 5-2 favorite. It was a head back to She’s Trouble. Party Like Grandma, Maiden Beauty, and Ma Meatloaf completed the order of finish.

Cartwheelin Lulu, named by owner Roddy Valente for his 6-year-old granddaughter, who is a gymnast, was one of three horses in the field trained by Jeremiah Englehart.

Though Party Like Grandma had shown speed in winning her first two starts, including the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga last month, Cartwheelin Lulu was quicker than her early and then late.

Englehart said of the three fillies, including Party Like Grandma and Ma Meatloaf, he thought Cartwheelin Lulu “was probably the fastest. If I asked Party Like Grandma to go, she would go, but I was concerned about her getting the distance. She was aided by the speedy rail at Saratoga to get the 6 1/2 [furlongs].”

Velazquez, breaking from the outside on Cartwheelin Lulu, said he thought Party Like Grandma, under Andre Worrie, would be in front of him early. But when she didn’t make the lead, he was happy to take it.

“When I broke and I didn’t see [Worrie] go, I said I might as well drop in there and see how she did, and she relaxed very well in front,” Velazquez said.

Cartwheelin Lulu ran an opening quarter in 23.17 seconds and a half-mile in 47.22.

At the top of the lane, Party Like Grandma, Elegant Zip, and She’s Trouble all loomed to the outside of Cartwheelin Lulu. But Cartwheelin Lulu had something left when called upon by Velazquez and edged clear.

Cartwheelin Lulu, a daughter of Bustin Stones, covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.71 and returned $16.

“When the other horse got right next to her, she didn’t get bothered at all,” Velazquez said. “She didn’t get rank. I showed her the whip to make her pay attention, and when I asked her down the lane, she responded.”