Naked Avenger rallies in Joseph A. Gimma

ELMONT, N.Y. - When Naked Avenger went from a stalking third to a lagging fifth around the far turn of Wednesday’s $150,000 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes under jockey Luis Saez, trainer Tim Hill thought his filly was going to finish last in the stakes for New York-bred juvenile fillies.

“She was running and they were running away from her,” Hills said.

But in the stretch, it was a resurgent Naked Avenger who was running away from heavily favored Fierce Lady and the other four fillies in the field to record a two-length victory at odds of 16-1 in the Joseph A. Gimma at Belmont Park. Fierce Lady, winner of the Seeking the Ante Stakes at Saratoga last month, finished second by 2 1-2 lengths over Irish Danzing. Time Limit, Thea’s Theme and Ilchester Cheetah completed the order of finish.

The win was the second in as many starts for Naked Avenger, a daughter of Congrats owned by Tee N Jay Stable and Headless Horseman Racing Stable.

Naked Avenger was third, about 1 1-2 lengths off Time Limit through an opening quarter of 22.82 seconds. Shortly thereafter, Naked Avenger was backing up into fifth while Irish Danzing was chasing Time Limit, who ran a half-mile in 45.80 seconds.

“At the three-eighths, I thought we were done,” Saez said. “I tried to get her on the bridle and she started rolling. When we got to the stretch I thought [Fierce Lady] was gone, but she made a huge move and I knew we were going to get there.”

Hills did remind Saez how well Naked Avenger responded to the whip in her debut.

“In her first race, when got into her with the whip, she really reacted to it in a positive way,” Hills said. “At the top of the stretch, I thought she might hit the board. At the eighth pole, I said ‘I think we’re going to win.’ “

At the eighth pole, Naked Avenger was still fourth, and racing on the wrong lead. Fierce Lady, under Javier Castellano, had made a three-wide move to the lead and looked like she was going to reward her backers who made her the 3-5 favorite.

But Fierce Lady veered out, then in, and Naked Avenger, despite racing on the wrong lead, rallied past her inside the sixteenth pole.

Naked Avenger covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.27 and returned $34.20.

Naked Avenger, based at Monmouth Park, will likely return to Belmont for the $200,000 Maid of the Mist Stakes going a mile here on Oct. 19.

Castellano doesn’t think Fierce Lady would be a good fit for that race as he thought the seven furlongs of Wednesday’s Gimma were too far from the daughter of Competitive Edge.

“I think the question is how far does she want to go,” Castellano said. “I think seven-eighths is going to be too far for her.”

Favored Snap Decision wins William Entenmann Memorial

Snap Decision, a 38 1-2-length allowance winner at Saratoga on Aug. 14, won Wednesday’s $75,000 William Entenmann Memorial Hurdle Stakes by two lengths over Arch My Boy. Snap Decision, a 5-year-old gelding by Hard Spun owned by Bruton Street-US and trained by Jack Fisher, covered 2 1-4 miles in 4:17.37 and returned $3.10 as the favorite.