Curalina targets elders in Beldame

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher had several options for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Stakes but elected to go with the 3-year-old filly Curalina in the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares.

Curalina won the Grade 1 Acorn over this track in June and then was elevated to first in the Coaching Club American Oaks after getting bumped by I’m a Chatterbox nearing the wire. Curalina finished third behind Embellish the Lace and I’m a Chatterbox in the Grade 1 Alabama.

“The timing really was the key,” Pletcher said. “It gave us five weeks from the Alabama, and it gives us five weeks to the Breeders’ Cup. The fact she ran well in the Acorn on the track gave us confidence that she’d handle the surface, so those became the deciding variables.”

Pletcher has won five of the last 10 runnings of the Beldame, including in 2013 with the 3-year-old Princess of Sylmar.

Curalina’s competition on Saturday is expected to include Wedding Toast, Hot Stones, House Rules, and possibly Call Pat.

Pletcher said that Got Lucky, second to Sheer Drama in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign, would be pointed to the Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 4. Stopchargingmaria, fourth in the Personal Ensign, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup.