Harper's Corner moves to turf for Matron
:quality(75))
Harper’s Corner is already a stakes winner and Grade 1-placed on dirt, but trainer Cathal Lynch has decided to roll the dice and try the speedy filly on turf for the first time. He brings her back to New York from her Fair Hill Training Center base to take on seven rivals Saturday at Belmont Park in the $200,000 Matron Stakes.
Despite the surface change, Harper’s Corner figures to vie for favoritism in the Grade 3 dash for 2-year-old fillies along with impressive debut maiden winners Brickyard Belle and Yolo Train. The competitive field also includes stakes winners Almighty One and Royal Companion as well as Side Quest, More Champagne, and Medinah.
Harper’s Corner launched her career at Laurel, winning her first start in one-sided fashion, by nearly eight lengths, going five furlongs on dirt. Lynch wasted little time throwing the daughter of Speaker’s Corner into the deep end of the pool, sending her to Saratoga, where he was rewarded with an easy, gate-to-wire, 5 1/4-length victory in the Schuylerville.
Harper’s Corner, who Lynch also has entered Saturday at Laurel in the six-furlong Smart Halo, returned to Saratoga one more time for the Grade 1 Spinaway, where she was easily second best behind runaway winner Summer Starlet when stretching to seven furlongs on Sept. 5.
“The race in Maryland is probably a better spot, but after looking over the past performances with the owner, who is game to try anything, we decided to give it a shot to see if she can handle the turf with an eye towards going up against the boys if all went well in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint,” Lynch explained. “We worked her on the grass quite a few times at Fair Hill, even before she ran in the Schuylerville or Spinaway, and she handled it well. Although you never know for sure until they pop out of the gate and do it in a race. Turning back to six furlongs should be a plus. Eventually, she might go longer, but as a 2-year-old I think that’s right where she’s at for now.”
Brickyard Belle and Yolo Train both won their maidens at first asking going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf this summer at Saratoga. Brickyard Belle earned a whopping 86 Beyer Speed Figure after exploding to a 4 1/2-length victory in her debut for trainer Miguel Clement. Yolo Train forced the early pace before drawing off to a popular four-length triumph of her own debuting out of the potent Chad Brown barn.
“I don’t think the filly could have been more impressive in her debut,” Clement said of Brickyard Belle’s lone start. “Hopefully, she’ll pick up where she left off. She’s a bit tranquil in the morning. It was nice to see that [turn of foot] in the afternoon.”
Almightly One and Royal Companion ship to New York sporting modest two-race winning streaks that include stakes victories in the Presque Isle Debutante and Dolley Madison at Colonial Downs, respectively. Like Harper’s Corner, Almighty One will try turf for the first time after having raced almost exclusively over synthetic surfaces, while Royal Companion, another based at Fair Hill, is unbeaten in two previous starts on turf.
Futurity
Luminous Beauty could have competed in the Matron, but trainer Jena Antonucci opted instead to put her in against males in Saturday’s $200,000 Futurity. She is one of two fillies, along with My Kid’s Said No, entered in the six-furlong Grade 3 turf fixture that attracted a field of nine.
Luminous Beauty is the lone graded stakes-placed member of the Futurity lineup, having finished second after disputing a hotly contested pace in the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga. She turned in a similarly game effort when switching to turf for the 6 1/2-furlong Untapable four weeks later at Kentucky Downs, where she was defeated a neck by pace-stalking favorite Seneca Park after battling for the lead nearly gate to wire with Severely Overpayin.
Like Lynch, Antonucci said she also “took the dice, rolled them, and it worked” when deciding to switch her filly to the grass in her last start, despite having had previous success on the main track.
“We just weren’t happy with the way she was finishing on dirt. Her female family has a ton of turf and synthetic in it, so we took the chance to switch her over and it worked,” Antonucci said.
Antonucci also explained her reasoning for going up against the boys in the Futurity with Luminous Beauty rather than sticking with her own kind earlier in the day in the Matron.
“It looked like the filly race had more dynamic speed in it, and we don’t need to be in a speed duel with her again,” Antonucci explained.
The well-traveled My Kid’s Said No, who won her maiden at Gulfstream Park and the Assiniboia Downs Debutante by a combined 21 lengths, figures to assure an honest pace in the Futurity along with Luminous Beauty and Saratoga maiden winner Cactus Closer. That scenario figures to benefit late-runners such as Good to Be King and Pinpoint, who ran second and third, respectively, behind Mid American in the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Sprint five weeks ago at Kentucky Downs.
The winner of the Futurity receives a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
– additional reporting by David Grening
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.