Clariere benefits from speed duel and outfinishes Malathaat in Ogden Phipps Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. - Clairiere helped salvage what had been a trying day for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen while putting herself in the upper tier of older dirt fillies and mares by outfinishing last year’s 3-year-old filly champion Malathaat by a head to win Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park.
It was 2 1/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Search Results, who was part of a heavy pace with reigning older dirt female champion Letrukska. Letruska was eased in last, 26 3/4 lengths behind fourth-place finisher Bonny South.
The victory helped Clairiere avenge a 1 1/4-length defeat to Letruska in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn in April. It was her second Grade 1 victory, having also won the Cotillion at Parx last September.
Asmussen’s champion 2-year-old filly Echo Zulu was scratched as the heavy favorite moments before the Grade 1 Acorn when she was found to be lame in her left foreleg. The Asmussen-trained Max Player finished sixth of seven in the Grade 2 Brooklyn, and his 3-year-olds Chasing Time and Morello finished next-to-last and last in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens.
“Who is better prepared to take it than someone who’s run 46,000 horses,” said Asmussen, who entered Saturday as North America’s all-time leading trainer in wins with 9,788. “Always and never are two words that do not belong in this game. Being happy and appreciating something like this makes it that much more important because this race means nothing when you start the next one.”
Letruska was seeking to win the Phipps for a second consecutive year, just as she had won the Apple Blossom for a second straight year. After she broke a step slowly, jockey Jose Ortiz put Letruska in her customary position at the head of the field, but she had company in Search Results, who had broken on top under Irad Ortiz Jr.
Letruska was a length in front of Search Result through a quarter in 22.75 seconds and a half-mile in 45.23. Search Results went after Letruska and wrested a head lead after six furlongs in 1:09.23, and Letruska would soon retreat.
Search Results came into the stretch with a two-length advantage and seemingly in hand under Ortiz.
Clairiere, under Joel Rosario, and Malathaat, under John Velazquez, were in the back of the pack, some 14 1/2 lengths off the pace. The two basically moved in tandem from the middle of the far turn to the wire, with Clairiere, on the outside, outfinishing Malathaat in a terrific stretch battle.
“I was following Johnny the whole time but he was tough to beat,” Rosario said. “For a second I thought he might get me the last part, but she really responded well.”
Clariere, a daughter of Curlin - who in 2007 lost the Belmont Stakes by a head to Rags to Riches - covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.10 and returned $11.60. She was bred and is owned by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables.
Clariere earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She was a wonderfully filly last year, but as a 4-year-old she’s faster now than she was then,” Asmussen said. “This is a tremendous stage for her to show it on.”
The Phipps victory earned Clariere a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Keeneland.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said that Velazquez told him Malathaat seemed to lose a bit of focus at the sixteenth pole, which may have cost her.
“It caught him off guard because usually if she has a horse next to her she’ll stay focused the last 100 yards,” said Pletcher, who said he’d likely experiment with blinkers next out. “She saw something and kind of came off the bridle, but it was a big effort.”
Letruska acted a bit antsy in the paddock, something trainer Fausto Gutierrez attributed to having to report to a holding barn and then spending a long time the paddock before being saddled and going to the track.
But, he added the fast pace under a 124-pound impost also did her in.
Gutierrez said the opening quarter of 22.76 seconds “is not a fraction at Belmont to give you a chance to win this race.”