Godolphin in position to go three deep

ARCADIA, Calif. - Music Note is already in. Cocoa Beach might join her. And if Little Belle runs well on Sunday in the Grade 1, $500,000 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, she could give Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin Racing three runners in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic on Oct. 24 at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.

Little Belle has not been as sharp recently as she was earlier this year, when she scored the biggest win of her career at Keeneland.

"She won the Ashland on Polytrack, so hopefully she can revert to form," said Rick Mettee, who oversees Little Belle's training as the New York-based assistant to Saeed bin Suroor.

This year's Breeders' Cup will be the first run on a synthetic surface, Pro-Ride. Music Note and Cocoa Beach are bigger question marks on a synthetic surface than Little Belle, even though Little Belle is likely perceived as the weakest link among the three right now.

Music Note, who is one of the leading contenders for an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly, will not ship out to Santa Anita until just days before the race.

"She likes it at Belmont Park, so we'll leave her here as long as possible," Mettee said.

Cocoa Beach would have to be supplemented to the Ladies' Classic, previously known as the Distaff. With victories in her native Chile, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, Mettee said he believes she will adapt to any situation.

"She's handled a lot of different tracks," Mettee said. "She's pretty versatile."

Cocoa Beach upset Ginger Punch in the Beldame last Saturday at Belmont Park. Unbridled Belle was scheduled to run in that race, but was scratched because of the off track and was rerouted to the Spinster. It will be her first start on a synthetic surface.

"It's hard to identify which ones will like it just by watching them," her trainer, Todd Pletcher, said of synthetic surfaces in general. "Some appear to like it in the mornings, but not in the afternoons."

Among those scheduled to also run in the Spinster are Wake Up Maggie, who was scratched from the Lady's Secret last Saturday at Santa Anita, and Indescribable.

Wake Up Maggie, who was a sharp winner of the Adoration Handicap at Del Mar, "has a better stride on Polytrack," said Hubert Guy, a bloodstock agent who is her co-owner. Guy said running against Zenyatta and Hystericalady last week was too ambitious.

"We want to get a Grade 1 win with her," Guy said.

The Spinster, like the Ladies' Classic, is at 1 1/8 miles.

The Ladies' Classic picked up another contender last Saturday at Turfway Park when Bear Now scored an impressive victory in the Kentucky Cup Distaff.

"She's back at Woodbine, but she'll be coming out to California as soon as she can," said her trainer, Reade Baker. "I didn't like watching the monster," he said, referring to Zenyatta's overpowering victory in the Lady's Secret, "but the one thing I have in the back of my mind is that Onion beat Secretariat."