Consumer Spending edges away in Wonder Again Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown said he was on the fence whether Consumer Spending would be the type of filly to make the necessary progression from her juvenile season to be a major player in the 3-year-old filly turf division.
In two starts this year, Consumer Spending has certainly brought Brown down on the side of yes, she can.
Consumer Spending backed up her victory over Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca in the Memories of Silver Stakes at Aqueduct in April with another professional performance, this time a two-length victory in Thursday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes over a yielding Belmont Park inner turf course.
Under Manny Franco, Consumer Spending raced a joint third outside of Myriskyaffair, both about 2 1/2 lengths off Vergara, who set the pace, stalked by Skims. Franco advanced Consumer Spending three wide approaching the quarter pole, took the lead from Skims by the three-sixteenths, and edged away for the two-length score.
Myriskyaffair, under Joel Rosario, rallied to get second by a neck over Skims. Vergara and Sweet Sensation completed the order of finish. Shad Nation and Tap the Faith, the latter a main-track-only entrant scratched.
At 2, Consumer Spending went 2 for 4 and finished sixth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths. Now, she is a three-time stakes winner.
Brown said he wondered coming into this year was Consumer Spending “just a juvenile that got ahead of some of the other horses in the crop or was she going to move forward? And she’s moved forward quite nicely.”
In the Wonder Again, Consumer Spending showed she could lay close to a pedestrian pace – the six furlongs went in 1:15.40 – and still be effective. Franco said that at the five-sixteenths pole when he saw Flavien Prat aboard Skims take a peek back, he decided to go after the leaders.
“He took a peek back I said ‘They’re going slow, I gotta move,’ ” Franco said. “So, I just made my filly tip out to the clear, my filly responded to me, I just engaged him and that’s it, the filly did the rest.”
Consumer Spending, a daughter of More Than Ready owned by Seth Klarman, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.73 and returned $2.90 as the favorite.
Brown said Consumer Spending will join Haughty, the Penn Oaks winner, and McKulick, the Grade 2 Regret Stakes winner, as his runners in the Grade 1, $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 9.