Queen Picasso and Lady Beth make stakes debut
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ELMONT, N.Y. – Both Queen Picasso and Lady Beth had their stakes debuts delayed when the Memories of Silver Stakes, scheduled for April 29, was rained off the turf and both horses were scratched.
Saturday, with no rain forecast, Queen Picasso and Lady Beth make up a third of the six-horse field of 3-year-old fillies set to contest the Grade 3, $175,000 Soaring Softly Stakes, going seven furlongs over Belmont’s outer turf course.
Queen Picasso is trained by Christophe Clement, who also sends out Love Appeals coming off a monster allowance win at Aqueduct on April 21. Lady Beth is trained by Chad Brown, who also sends out Senior Prank. Quarrel and American Apple round out the sextet.
Queen Picasso, a daughter of Kingman, was a pace-pressing winner of her March 5 debut going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream. That race produced two next-out winners and three next-out runners-up.
“Queen Picasso won at a mile and sixteenth but she’s been showing a lot of speed in her morning workouts,” Clement said. “I just think it’s a fun race. I would have run her if it were a mile but I’m very happy to go seven-eighths.”
Love Appeals, a daughter of Speightstown, rebounded from a fourth-place finish to stablemate Breath Away in the Sanibel Island Stakes at Gulfstream to win a first-level allowance by 4 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct on April 27.
Clement said Love Appeals was “a bit unlucky” in the Sanibel Island when she got shuffled back on the turn and attempted to re-rally.
Joel Rosario rides Love Appeals from post 2, while Jose Ortiz rides Queen Picasso from post 4.
Lady Beth won her debut on Feb. 5 over Gulfstream’s synthetic surface. Brown had targeted the Memories of Silver Stakes for this daughter of Hard Spun, but had to wait an additional month when that race came off the turf.
Brown said Lady Beth had worked over the synthetic surface leading up to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction last year, where she was purchased for $390,000, which is why he kept her in that race.
“I think she’s going to probably be better on the turf,” Brown said prior to the Memories of Silver. “She had a little bit of synthetic experience because she was purchased at the OBS sale, so that didn’t hurt her.”
Senior Prank won her debut on dirt. After finishing last of five in the Ruthless at Aqueduct on dirt, Brown switched her to turf where she finished fourth in a first-level allowance.
Flavien Prat rides Lady Beth from the rail, while Irad Ortiz Jr. pilots Senior Prank from post 6.
American Apple returns to New York for the first time since she upset the Grade 3 Matron at 47-1 last Oct. 8. Since then, American Apple, trained by Daniel Leitch, finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, fourth in the Limestone at Keeneland, and second to Danse Macabre in the Mamzelle Stakes on May 3.
Quarrel makes her 3-year-old debut for trainer Robert Ribaudo after closing out her 2-year-old season with a maiden win on Nov. 19.
Dylan Davis, off to a 4-for-52 start at this meet, rides Quarrel from post 5.
The Soaring Softly goes as race 7 on a 10-race card that begins at 1 p.m.
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