Pumpkin Pie foes will try to catch Stonetastic

ELMONT, N.Y. – On paper, there looks to be plenty of early speed in Sunday’s $100,000 Pumpkin Pie Stakes, the closing-day co-feature at Belmont Park.

Kelly Breen, the trainer of Stonetastic, begs to differ.

“There ain’t nobody as fast as her is all I got to say,” he said. “She is the speed of the speed, as far as I see it.”

Stonetastic will certainly try to play “catch me if you can” in the six-furlong Pumpkin Pie, which shares billing with the Chelsey Flower Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on turf as Belmont Park closes its 38-day run with a nine-race card. Racing on this circuit moves to Aqueduct beginning Friday.

Stonetastic is coming off a runner-up finish to Breeders’ Cup-bound Irish Jasper in the Grade 2, $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland on Oct. 8. Breen said he and Stoneway Farm, which owns Stonetastic, didn’t feel it was prudent to ship to Southern California for the Filly and Mare Sprint, a seven-furlong race.

Plans call for Stonetastic to be bred early next year, and the multiple graded stakes winner will have one or two more starts before she is retired.

“One of our goals is to try and get a win before we retire her,” Breen said. “We’d love to have her go out on a winning note.”

In the TCA, Stonetastic set sharp early fractions under Paco Lopez and was run down late along the inside by Irish Jasper.

Harkening back to last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland, where Stonetastic finished eighth, Breen was leery about whether Stonetastic liked that track’s surface. But, he said, she was training too well to pass up that rich race.

“Paco said she tried to dig in, but he said Keeneland isn’t the same as Monmouth Park,” Breen said.

Stonetastic, who won the Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga as a 3-year-old, is making her Belmont debut in this spot.

Other speed types include Momameamaria, who breaks from the rail, Disco Chick, and Kelsocait.

The best closers look to be Saharan and Fusachi Red.

Pumpkin Pie, Race 5

KEY CONTENDERS

Stonetastic, by Mizzen Mast

Last 3 Beyers: 85-104-90

◗ Looks like the horse with the most early speed, and when in form she’s tough to catch, as was the case in the Prioress two years ago. Two starts back, she romped by 6 3/4 lengths in the Regret at Monmouth, besting next-out winners Bustin Out and Sky Gold.

◗ As the 123-pound highweight she is spotting two to seven pounds to the rest of the field.

Saharan, by Desert Party

Last 3 Beyers: 74-86-75

◗ After winning a first-level allowance at Saratoga, she shipped to Churchill and finished fifth of eight in the Dogwood Stakes going seven furlongs.

◗ She won her maiden in off-the-turf six-furlong affair here in May.

Momameamaria, by Quality Road

Last 3 Beyers: 86-93-86

◗ She has run some solid races at Belmont, and will likely be chasing Stonetastic from the outset. Finished fourth, beaten four lengths in Grade 2 Gallant Bloom, run in the mud.