Good karma for My Lordship

ELMONT, N.Y. - Bill Mott finished second in eight stakes races at Saratoga, five of them by one half-length or less. Perhaps Thursday's Auntie Mame Stakes at Belmont signaled a change in fortune for Mott when Connie Belle remarkably won a photo by a nose over Silver Charades.

Mott won another stakes on Friday when Taittinger Rose took the $67,400 Sky Beauty.

Mott hopes the good karma continues on Saturday when he sends out My Lordship against 11 other fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $150,000 Noble Damsel Handicap at one mile over the Widener Turf.

Like Connie Belle, My Lordship is coming off a narrow loss in a stakes at Saratoga, falling a neck short of Cloakof Vagueness in the faster division of the De La Rose Stakes.

"It was a good race; it was a tough beat, but she just didn't quite hang on," said Mott, who was 8 for 19 at Belmont through Thursday. "The other horse came with a pretty big run and we couldn't hold her off."

My Lordship is 1 for 4 this year, but the one win came in the Voodoo Dancer Stakes over this course and at the one-mile distance in May.

"That was probably her best race to date," Mott said.

will break from post 4 under Jerry Bailey, the leading rider at the meet with 16 victories through Thursday.

When Mott won the Auntie Mame Stakes, he beat a horse trained by Christophe Clement. Clement may have the horse to beat in the Noble Damsel in Bright Abundance, who is 2 for 2 over the Widener Turf.

finished fourth in the slower division of the De La Rose, but was compromised by a slow pace. She came back with a solid second-place finish in the Goldfinch Stakes at Monmouth on Sept. 4.

"She loves the one-turn mile," Clement said. "She's just slightly growing a winter coat this week. But she's training well and she looks well."

There should be ample pace in the race with Lentil and Givememore in the field. That should help the closers such as Bright Abundance and Cloakof Vagueness. The latter is 3 for 5 this year and earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure when she won a classified allowance race here in July.

had a perfect trip when beating My Lordship in the De La Rose and encountered a little traffic when sixth in the Ballston Spa. She is reunited with Edgar Prado, who rode her in the De La Rose score.