Lack of pace compromises Bell's the One in deep edition of the Madison

The number of good horses entered in the Madison Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland makes it tough coming up with good answers.

The primary question for horseplayers, of course, is, “Who will win?” but this is race worth watching strictly on its own merits.

Seven fillies and mares are set to race seven furlongs on dirt in the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison. Bell’s the One, Sanenus, and Fair Maiden already are Grade 1 winners, while Kimari finished second of 16 last summer at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup.

Sconsin won the Grade 2 Eight Belles and finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint to end her 2020 campaign. Mundaye Call, the apparent lone speed, posted a field-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure last summer. Estilo Talentoso has solid stakes credentials but, on paper, no chance with this bunch.

“I’m going into this very confident – maybe more confident than I should be,” said Neil Pessin, trainer of Bell’s the One, the 2-1 morning-line favorite.

Bell’s the One won her maiden at Keeneland in autumn 2018, won the Grade 2 Raven Run over this seven-furlong trip in autumn 2019, was third last July in the 2020 Madison, and third, beaten a nose for second by Serengeti Empress, in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

“This is the race we targeted after the Breeders’ Cup and she hasn’t missed any steps,” Pessin said. “I’m not concerned about fitness and conditioning. She’s doing as good as she can do, and I think she’s ready.”

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Bell’s the One following a winter break hit the Fair Grounds work tab Feb. 3 and polished off her breeze pattern with a fast five furlongs on March 21 and a bullet half-mile in 47 seconds March 28, the day before she shipped north.

“The last one was her most impressive work. She went by her company on cruise control, in hand,” said Pessin.

One hitch: Bell’s the One is a one-run closer, and for all the talent in the Madison, the race lacks speed horses. Mundaye Call is the lone front-runner and the last time she got loose, in the Audubon Oaks last summer at Ellis Park, Mundaye Call won by seven lengths with that 100 Beyer.

Kimari has the raw speed to keep Mundaye Call in her sights but habitually breaks a step slow. “She never comes away from there fast,” said trainer Wesley Ward.

Once she gets going, Kimari is a force of nature, and while she’s excellent on turf, Kimari has won all three of her dirt races. Before a relatively minor injury cut short her 2020 campaign, Kimari had been aimed toward the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, Ward said. She returned from a 5 1/2-month layoff Feb. 27 looking faster than ever, winning Spring Fever Stakes at Oaklawn Park by more than four lengths, and Kimari races for the first time on the Keeneland main track since she debuted in April 2019 with a 15-length maiden win.

“She’s had a couple beautiful breezes at Keeneland since Oaklawn,” Ward said. “She’s trained there since she was a yearling – it’s her home track.”

Sanenus won at the Group 1 level in Chile before being imported and turned over to trainer Michael McCarthy last year, and after three solid performances, Sanenus took a major forward step winning the La Canada Stakes on Jan. 9 by six lengths. She was scratched from the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 13 after tying up the morning before the race. The cancellation of training at Santa Anita forced Sanenus to stay in the barn the two days prior.

“It was an unfortunate incident, and I thought it was unfair to the horsemen for the track to be closed,” McCarthy said.

Sanenus missed about five days training, McCarthy said, but has gotten back in a good rhythm. Her in-company workout with Grade 1-class turf miler Smooth Like Strait on March 26 looked just as strong as her works leading to the Beholder.

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“To my eye, it looks like she’s back where she was before” the Beholder, said McCarthy.

Sanenus drew post 1, which is less than ideal, but has positional pace and could work out a trip, at a square price, under Javier Castellano.

Sconsin, who wintered at Fair Grounds for trainer Greg Foley, improved dramatically through her 3-year-old campaign of 2020, hitting a peak in the Breeders’ Cup, and her sharp workouts in recent weeks suggest she could be even better at age 4. Sconsin, like Bell’s the One, likes waiting to make one run, which could work counter to the Madison race shape.

Fair Maiden knocked out her Grade 1 on Dec. 26 in the age- and sex-restricted La Brea, but even that career best might not land her a top-three placing Friday.

Bell’s the One, Sconsin, and Mundaye Call race for the first time without Lasix. Sanenus and Kimari have run top races without the anti-bleeder medication.

The race’s allowance conditions work against Fair Maiden, who carries 123 pounds compared to 120 for Bell’s the One and 118 for the others.

The Madison is race 10 of 11 with post time set for 6:02 p.m. Eastern.