Lady Eli tries longer distance in Wonder Again
ELMONT, N.Y. – To this point, Lady Eli has been nothing short of brilliant. Undefeated in four starts – three of them graded stakes – Lady Eli is at the head of the class in the 3-year-old filly turf division.
If there is still something left to prove, it’s how far she will run. Thus far, her wins have come at distances of a mile and 1 1/16 miles. She now will try to stretch out a little longer, first in Sunday’s $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Belmont Park and again in five weeks in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational at 1 1/4 miles.
Trainer Chad Brown said he believes added distance won’t be a hindrance to Lady Eli, who will take on as many as seven rivals in the Wonder Again.
“How talented she is, how easy she does everything, what a good mind she has,” Brown said when asked what gives him confidence in Lady Eli’s ability to run longer distances. “Those things bode well for her stretching out.”
Her victories in the Miss Grillo and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, both at 1 1/16 miles, left little doubt that Lady Eli can handle an extra sixteenth of a mile. In her lone race this year, she drew clear with an eye-catching turn of foot to win the Grade 3 Appalachian on April 12.
“The prep race was perfect,” Brown said. “For her to get started at a mile and win geared down like that was impressive and just what we were looking for – that final piece of fitness from here to get her ready for some of these longer races.”
Lady Eli will face several interesting rivals, including Miss Chatelaine, who went 2 for 2 last year – both wins coming at Belmont – and Pine Needles, a winner of two of three starts. Both fillies are trained by Christophe Clement.
Itsonlyactingdad and Heath each have won their last two. Pangburn, who will run here and not at Penn National, where she is cross-entered, and Puca go back to turf after running in graded events on dirt.
The Wonder Again will go as race 6 (3:55 p.m. Eastern) on the nine-race card.
Wonder Again, race 6
KEY CONTENDERS
Lady Eli (Last 3 Beyers 94-96-78)
◗ Hard to look past this filly, who has displayed brilliance in all four of her wins and, according to Brown, has improved physically and mentally from last year.
“She’s gotten taller, heavier, stronger,” Brown said. “As brilliant as she was in the mornings as a 2-year-old, she’s probably even a better work horse this year.”
◗ There is a 60 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms Sunday. Brown said he would prefer to run Lady Eli on firm ground.
Miss Chatelaine (Last 2 Beyers: 79-73)
◗ Handled both firm and yielding turf, winning both of her starts last year at Belmont Park.
“I’ve been waiting for this all winter long to get them going long at Belmont Park on turf,” said Clement, who also was referring to Pine Needles. “Lady Eli is an amazing filly. She’s done nothing wrong so far, but I don’t think you can duck one horse. If it rains, I think both of them can handle soft turf.”
Pine Needles (Last 3 Beyers: 81-79-74)
◗ Has two wins and a neck loss in three starts and did win her debut going 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 1 at Gulfstream Park.
◗ Speaking about the distance for his two fillies, Clement said, “Pine Needles, the further, the better. Miss Chatelaine is a question mark, but the only way to find out is to run her.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Puca. Trainer Bill Mott is 21-2-2-1 with a $0.69 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf in route stakes races. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Heath. Trainer Bill Mott is 61-20-12-6 with a $3.68 ROI over the past year in turf routes with last-out winners (11-5-1-2, $5.86 ROI in non-graded stakes). Click for more details. – Mike Hogan