La Signare wires field in Wonder Again Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – La Signare galloped alone on an easy lead in Thursday’s Grade 3 Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park, but it was only a matter of time when the heavily favored Significant Form was going to confront her.

Brian Lynch, the trainer of La Signare, had a pretty good feeling how his filly would respond.

“I just had a gut feeling she wouldn’t be short when it came time to ask her for run,” Lynch said. “It was just a matter of whether she was good enough.”

La Signare was indeed good enough, turning aside Significant Form both at the top of the stretch and again in midstretch of the inner turf course to win the $200,000 Wonder Again for 3-year-old fillies by a length. Significant Form, the 4-5 favorite, held second by a neck over stablemate Mighty Scarlett, who was third by a neck over Daddy Is a Legend.

Altea finished fifth and was followed by Andina Del Sur, Camila Princess, Armoricaine, and Spinning Top. Animosity scratched.

The win was the second in four career starts for La Signare, a French-bred daughter of Siyouni owned by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, Tim and Anna Cambron, and Bradley Thoroughbreds. She was coming off a narrow loss to Toinette in a Keeneland allowance. Toinette came out of that race to win the Grade 3 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs.

La Signare came from off the pace that day. With nearly two months between races, La Signare was fresh and wanted to be forward on Thursday.

Under Joel Rosario, La Signare got away with a posted first quarter of 26.36 seconds, a half-mile in 50.95 and six furlongs in 1:14.54 with Significant Form chasing in second.

“I’m a big believer pace makes the race, and if there’s no pace in the race, leave her where she’s comfortable,” Lynch said. “Evidently, that’s where she was comfortable.”

Significant Form, under Irad Ortiz Jr., made a run at La Signare at the quarter pole, but La Signare repelled that one. Significant Form tried her again at the eighth pole, but La Signare kicked away to win by a length.

La Signare covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.84 and returned $14.60 to win.

“We had a long, slow gallop early and before turning for home I said 'Well, it’s great, because I knew we were going slow,” Rosario said.

The top three finishers from the Wonder Again get automatic invites to the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 7. Lynch said that is one reason why he ran La Signare in this race instead of an entry-level allowance.

“The only way we could get there was to go into this race and try to get an invitation,” Lynch said.

Chad Brown, the trainer of Significant Form, said his filly had no excuse and credited the winner with being “impressive.”

Brown said he would consult with Ortiz before deciding whether to try Significant Form at 1 1/4 miles in the Oaks.

“I’ll talk to the jockey to see if he feels she’ll stay at a mile and a quarter,” Brown said. “I guess that’d be the question mark now, the way she ranged up and kind of idled a bit.”