Ogden Phipps brings together East Coast heads of state

ELMONT, N.Y. – Leadership within the East Coast filly-and-mare handicap division will be decided at Belmont Park on Saturday, when Curalina, Stopchargingmaria, Sheer Drama, and Forever Unbridled top a field of seven in the $1 million Ogden Phipps. The Grade 1 fixture will be run at 1 1/16 miles.

The top four contenders in the Phipps have already amassed 10 Grade 1 wins among them, with a fifth member of the lineup, Cavorting, also having won a Grade 1. Carrumba and decided longshot Desert Valley complete the field.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said his pair of Curalina and Stopchargingmaria are both training extremely well coming into the race. Curalina exits arguably the best performance of her career, a 7 1/2-length tour de force in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on May 6, counting the three-time Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama among her victims. Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, Stopchargingmaria kicked off her 2016 campaign by finishing second, a neck behind Sheer Drama, in the seven-furlong Madison at Keeneland.

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Curalina won the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont after being squeezed at the start last year.

“I thought it was pretty impressive that she could get up last year in the Acorn after being in the middle of that sandwich at the start,” Pletcher said. “But visually, [the La Troienne] was probably her most impressive performance, and she’s trained as if she’s going to run another good race.”

Stopchargingmaria has been preparing for the Ogden Phipps over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, where she’s had five works since the Madison on April 9.

“She really loves Saratoga, and she’s trained exceptionally well,” said Pletcher. “I thought she ran a very big race off the layoff in the Madison. She had a pretty wide trip and just missed. It was similar to the way she kicked off her season last year.”

Trainer David Fawkes is confident that Sheer Drama will bounce back from her third-place finish in the La Troienne. Joe Bravo has a return call.

“She just doesn’t seem to like it there at Churchill Downs,” said Fawkes. “Joe said she just wasn’t grabbing the track in the La Troienne, that he wanted to have her closer into the first turn but just didn’t have the horse to put her there.”

Forever Unbridled won a Grade 1 race for the first time in her last start, rallying to a 2 1/4-length triumph in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park on April 15. The win was the third in a row for the 4-year-old Forever Unbridled, who will race at Belmont Park for the first time Saturday.

Cavorting captured the Grade 1 Test last year at 3. She has yet to race beyond a mile but has won three of her four starts at Belmont, including the Grade 2 Ruffian by five lengths going a mile May 14.

Key Contenders

Curalina, by Curlin

Last 3 Beyers: 100-93-98

◗ She proved no match for her stablemate Stopchargingmaria in their only previous meeting, finishing third to her, beaten nearly four lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Stopchargingmaria, by Tale of the Cat

Last 3 Beyers: 100-98-93

◗ She earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure while kicking off her 2015 campaign with a second-place finish in the Madison and a 100 Beyer in her second-place finish in the same race this year.

Sheer Drama, by Burning Roma

Last 3 Beyers: 89-100-91

◗ She’s made two starts at Belmont Park, with both races coming three years ago at 3, finishing fourth against maidens and second behind Wedding Toast in the Belle Cherie Stakes.