Miss Brazil proves too much in three-horse Ruthless Stakes

Trainer Tony Dutrow may not have learned a whole lot about Miss Brazil from her dominant 6 1/4-length victory in Monday’s $100,000 Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct, but he hopes the 3-year-old filly got the effort she needed to set up her up for tougher future assignments.

In a scratched-reduced field of three, Miss Brazil asserted her authority with a handy front-running victory over Gulf Coast. Dealing Justice was eased in the final sixteenth. The Ruthless was moved to Monday when Sunday’s Aqueduct card was canceled due to snow.

Mid-Atlantic shippers It Can and Little Huntress scratched from the Ruthless. Little Huntress is entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Wide Country Stakes at Laurel Park.

:: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more.

Miss Brazil was coming off a dominant maiden score at Aqueduct on Nov. 29. She took some early pressure from Dealing Justice in thart race before drawing away to a 2 1/2-length victory.

That was a fast race, and Dutrow wanted to give Miss Brazil plenty of time to recharge her batteries.

On Monday, Miss Brazil was just as impressive as in her maiden score.

Breaking from the rail under Eric Cancel, Miss Brazil was hustled out of the gate to attain a forward position. Dealing Justice was kept within a half-length by Dylan Davis through an opening quarter of 23.32 seconds. Cancel asked Miss Brazil for run entering the far turn, and she edged away from Dealing Justice.

Gulf Coast, under Manny Franco, attempted to make a run at Miss Brazil approaching the quarter pole, but Miss Brazil was shaken up by Cancel and opened up a clear advantage. Cancel hit Miss Brazil once right-handed in the stretch and basically hand-rode her home in the last sixteenth.

“I wanted to be on the lead to dictate the pace and take it from there,” Cancel said. “She’s a very honest filly, so I didn’t have any doubts about her today.”

:: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more.

Miss Brazil, covered the seven furlongs in 1:24.92 and returned $2.90 as the 2-5 favorite.

“I have to be happy with the way she turned away a stakes winner, I have to be happy with that,” Dutrow said. “Outside of that, I don’t think we learned anything today. I think things went as we were hoping they would. Now we’ll see how she does stretching out in the Busher.”

The $250,000 Busher, run at a mile, is scheduled for March 6.

* Dutrow may have seen one of Miss Brazil’s main challengers in the Busher when Mo Desserts romped to a 15 1/2-length maiden score going a mile in the race immediately following the Ruthless. Mo Desserts is a 3-year-old daughter of Nyquist trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Late Night Stables. She covered the mile in 1:38.47 in hand under Pablo Morales.