Miss Besilu gets second shot on dirt

ELMONT, N.Y. – The regally bred Miss Besilu underperformed in her career debut on dirt last fall to the point where trainer Bill Mott changed surfaces immediately.

After some initial success on turf, Miss Besilu began underachieving again, so Mott again will make a surface change Thursday, when he runs Miss Besilu in an $80,000 second-level allowance race going 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Belmont Park.

Miss Besilu is a 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the Quiet American mare Quiet Dance, making her a half-sister to 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam. Miss Besilu, purchased as a weanling for $2.6 million by Benjamin Leon, debuted at Belmont on the dirt last fall, finishing sixth of eight in a one-mile maiden race.

“I thought she’d run a little better than she did,” Mott said. “That’s why I need to try her again on the dirt.”

Following Miss Besilu’s debut, Mott moved her to turf, where she won two of her next three starts before finishing 11th in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs and sixth in the Grade 1 Ashland over Keeneland’s synthetic surface.

“In the Florida Oaks, she just didn’t finish up; the ground was a little soft,” Mott said. “The synthetic, I don’t know what happened. I do know I don’t need to run her on that again.”

Mott said he likes how Miss Besilu has been training on the dirt at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track, which is another reason “she deserves another chance on the dirt,” he said.

Joel Rosario is named to ride Miss Besilu from post 2.

Among Miss Besilu’s five challengers in the Thursday feature is Tahoe Tigress, a 5-year-old New York-bred mare who is 4 for 6 at Belmont Park. Tahoe Tigress finished fourth in the one-mile Critical Eye Stakes, 6 1/4 lengths behind the victorious La Verdad, on May 31. That was the first start in 4 1/2 months for Tahoe Tigress.

“We wanted to get one race before the New York-bred stakes but weren’t able to do it,” trainer Jeremiah Englehart said. “She got a little sick on me. I thought she ran well in that race considering it was her first race back going long. I’m expecting her to move forward off of that.”

Tahoe Tigress has not won beyond a mile, but Englehart said his mare is the type who grinds it out and will benefit from an expected honest early pace.

Cloudy Vow returns to dirt after running third in an allowance race over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs. Our Amazing Rose attempts to stretch out in distance for the first time. Very Cherry Candy, a six-time winner, and Oasis At Midnight, a three-time winner, are both in for the optional claiming tag of $62,500.