Might be time to take a shot against Brown

ELMONT, N.Y. – While Chad Brown has the two horses to beat in Wednesday’s first-level allowance feature for 3-year-old fillies on Belmont Park’s inner turf course, there are some alternatives that could offer more value in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Brown sends Fierce Scarlett and Nay Lady Nay. Fierce Scarlett is returning from a near eight-month layoff, while Nay Lady Nay is taking the next logical step coming off a maiden win Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park that produced four next-out winners.

Fierce Scarlett’s lone win came here last September when she took a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 4 1/2 lengths. After that, she was beaten four lengths by Concrete Rose in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland. In her lone start this year, Fierce Scarlett was beaten a neck by Itsmyluckycharm in this same condition Jan. 21 at Gulfstream Park. Itsmyluckycharm has come back to win three of her next five starts – and was disqualified out of a fourth win – including two stakes.

Javier Castellano will ride Nay Lady Nay from post 2, while John Velazquez, subbing for the suspended Irad Ortiz Jr., rides Fierce Scarlett from post 6.

Xanthique, Ever Changing, and Sorrentina Lemon could be alternatives to the Brown duo.

Xanthique, claimed by Tom Morley for VinLaur Racing Stables for $50,000 in April, won two turf races at Belmont in the spring. Most recently, she finished third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by winner Catch a Bid, in the Riskaverse Stakes on Aug. 22 at Saratoga.

Xanthique likes to lay close, and she may be able to take advantage of a race that does not appear to have a clear front-runner. Figure It Out, stretching out from dirt sprints, might be on the lead in her first start on turf.

Ever Changing, by Tapit out of the $1.2 million earner Rainbow View, made a successful U.S. and seasonal debut for Jonathan Thomas, winning a maiden race on Aug. 2 at Colonial Downs. The third-place finisher from that race, Periodical, came back to win her maiden Sunday at Laurel for trainer Shug McGaughey.

John Gosden trained Ever Changing in Europe and “sent her over in beautiful shape,” Thomas said.

“She’s a really good-moving filly, a lot of pedigree,” he said. “She’s done really well since she got here.”

Jose Lezcano rides Ever Changing from the rail.

Sorrentina Lemon won her debut Jan. 5 at Tampa by 2 1/4 lengths, but has not run back. Strike at Dawn, runner-up from that race, has won two of three starts since.

Sorrentina Lemon is trained by Christophe Clement.

“She was impressive when she won at Tampa, I thought, then she went wrong, so we gave her plenty of time,” Clement said. “She might be one or two works away from being perfectly fit, but I think she’s fit enough to run, and at this time of the year I don’t like to wait too long anyway just because of the weather.”

Chasing the Kitty ships in from Presque Isle Downs for trainer Kevin Rice. Jose Ortiz has taken the call for Rice, his brother-in-law.

First post for Wednesday’s eight-race card is 3 p.m.