Kid Kate in spot where she does best

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though her breeding suggests she could be effective on turf, synthetics or in dirt routes, Kid Kate has proven best in one-turn dirt sprints. That’s a fact her connections hope continues to be proven in Wednesday’s $70,000 Catinca Stakes at Belmont Park.

The Catinica, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies, goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that not only starts the final week of racing at Belmont but also includes a $38,953 pick six carryover. The pick six begins with race 4.

Kid Kate is a daughter of Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid out of the unraced dam Run Kate Run, whose only other foal, Meetmeatthechapel, was a four-time winner, all around two turns. After winning her debut going 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga in 2009, Kid Kate won the off-the-turf Junior Champion Stakes at Monmouth, a two-turn mile race.

But after disappointing performances in stakes run on synthetic and turf, Kid Kate was returned to one-turn races, where after finishing second in an allowance race at Belmont, she won a seven-furlong allowance at Saratoga and the Belle Cherie Stakes here going one mile on Oct. 3.

“Given her pedigree I thought she’d like the turf or synthetics, but both don’t seem to be her thing,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She seem like a one-turn race from 6 1/2 furlongs to a mile is within her range. We’ll probably keep her doing that the rest of her life. She’s a real honest, hard-trying horse.”

Kid Kate will break from post 12, but she has enough speed to gain an early stalking position under Jose Lezcano.

Belle of the Hall will try to rebound from a last-place finish as the even-money favorite in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks on Sept. 18. Before that, Belle of the Hall had won 3 of her first 4 starts and was third in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga. Trainer Tom Albertrani said he could not find a reason why Belle of the Hall ran so poorly at Charles Town.

“I don’t know if it was the surface, two turns, or a speed-favoring track that she wasn’t comfortable on,” trainer Tom Albertrani said. “It looks like she’s rebounded well since she ran, and hopefully we can draw a line through that race.”

Catch a Thief, who comes off a strong second-level allowance win over this track on Sept. 17, and Simply Spiteful, who had a troubled start when fifth in the Victory Ride, look like the main speed in the field.