Heredia making North American debut in Beaugay Stakes off 575-day break
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Coming off a 575-day layoff, 6-year-old mare Heredia will make her North American debut in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Aqueduct on Sunday. Trainer Graham Motion described the long road to prepare Heredia for racing in the United States after spending her first 13 races in Great Britain.
“She came to me last winter, had a couple works, and then came up with a little soft tissue issue,” Motion said. “We gave her a lot of time off, and I kind of had her ready to go since we got out of Florida, and then we decided to wait for this race.”
In October 2023, Heredia finished third in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, delivering the sort of performance that should have put her on track to become a solid stakes contender in Great Britain. She never ran for trainer Richard Hannon again, however, and soon moved across the Atlantic Ocean to begin training for a stateside debut in 2024.
At Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, the mare completed her second published workout in March 2024 but suffered the long-term setback soon after. Since returning to the work tab in February, she has been on a steady schedule and will jump right into graded stakes competition on Sunday.
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Motion first entered her in an allowance race that did not fill, and though he feels that she may need a race before contending in a stakes, he wanted to get her started as soon as possible. Manny Franco will take the mount.
Heredia is diving into very deep waters in her long-awaited return. Trainer Chad Brown is entering three talented 4-year-old fillies in the field of 10, including 4-year-old Grayosh, winner of the Grade 2 Lake Placid last year.
After improving to earn that graded stakes victory at Saratoga in August, Grayosh made her final start of the 2024 season in October in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, where she finished fifth in a strong field of 10. Flavien Prat rode her in the last three races of her 3-year-old campaign and will stay on for her first start of 2025.
The other two in Brown’s trio are serious contenders as well. Spaliday finished fourth behind her stablemate in the Lake Placid last year before winning the Grade 2 Sands Point on the Aqueduct turf. The Beaugay will be her second start of the year after a dull 4-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs.
Dynamic Pricing won the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs before finishing the year with a disappointing seventh in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks, third in the Lake Placid, and third in the ungraded Winter Memories at Aqueduct. Irad Ortiz rode her in her best performances last year and will ride again on Sunday.
Raqiya, another 4-year-old filly, is the only contender for trainer Todd Pletcher. After nearly two full seasons in Great Britain, she made her stateside debut for trainer Owen Burrows in November and won the Grade 3 Goldikova at Del Mar. She then entered Pletcher’s barn and finished fifth in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Invitational.
License Fee
Love Appeals, a 5-year-old mare trained by Christophe Clement, will switch back to turf for her 5-year-old debut in the $150,000 License Fee at Aqueduct on Sunday. Her last start in December was a disappointment on synthetic, but the rising star seems uniquely suited to handle six furlongs on the grass at Aqueduct.
“Love Appeals has been training well at Payson and she has a good track record at Aqueduct,” assistant trainer Miguel Clement said. “We expect her to run well off the bench.”
The improving mare made her first turf starts of 2024 at Monmouth over the summer, winning an allowance and the $100,000 Incredible Revenge. That stakes victory came at five furlongs, but later in the year, the mare showed even more at Aqueduct when running six furlongs. She improved to finish second by a head in the Floral Park and took another step forward to win the $150,000 Autumn Days in November.
The Clement barn is also entering 5-year-old mare Dontlookbackatall in the License Fee. She won the 2024 running of the License Fee and went on to win the Grade 3 Caress, but she tailed off at the end of the season, placing 11th in the Grade 2 Franklin at Keeneland and sixth behind her stablemate in the Autumn Days. She has not raced since, but Miguel Clement said that she’s been training well and should deliver a renewed effort.
Time to Dazzle, a 4-year-old filly trained by Mark Casse, won the Grade 3 Ontario Colleen at Woodbine in July but also struggled to maintain momentum at the end of her campaign. She has not raced since October, when she finished fourth and last in the Glen Cove.
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