Radiator makes U.S. stakes debut in Beaugay

ELMONT, N.Y. – Radiator looked very much like a stakes-caliber filly when she won her North American and seasonal debut at Keeneland last month, defeating 11 rivals.

On Saturday, Radiator will make her U.S. stakes debut when she takes on the Grade 1 winner Discreet Marq and five others in the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay at Belmont Park.

Radiator is a Juddmonte Farms homebred daughter of Dubawi out of the mare Heat Haze, one of five Grade 1 winners produced by the mare Hasili.

In her allowance win at Keeneland, Radiator sat behind four horses, found running room in upper stretch, and galloped to a two-length victory while never feeling the leather of Joel Rosario’s whip.

“Her first race for us was very good,” trainer Bill Mott said. “We thought she was nice, and the race she came out of was a very tough a-other-than.”

Creative Spirit, the runner-up from that race, came back to win her next start, and Lahinch Classics, who finished fourth as the favorite in that race, was entered to run Friday at Belmont.

Discreet Marq, a New York-bred daughter of Discreet Cat, has won six stakes, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks as a 3-year-old. She has not raced since finishing third in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar last Nov. 30.

She was entered to run in a stakes April 25 at Gulfstream Park but scratched late when a rainstorm came.

“A bad rainstorm on very firm turf can give a banana-peel effect,” trainer Christophe Clement said. “Slippery on top.”

Discreet Marq is 4 for 7 over the Belmont turf.

Key contenders

Radiator (Last Beyer: 88)

* This regally bred filly won her U.S. debut under a hand ride from Rosario.

* Had a bit of a spotty record in Britain, but Mott thinks there is an explanation.

“I have a feeling one of the problems they might have had with her over there was shipping and running because I guess she was a little temperamental,” Mott said. “But hopefully going to the paddock from her stall might suit her better.”

Discreet Marq (Last 3 Beyers: 91-96-94)

* A consistent mare who rarely runs a bad race, she went only 1 for 7 last year but ran third, beaten a half-length, in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga.

* Despite the four-month-plus layoff, Clement said his filly is ready to run.

“She’s trained well, looks well,” he said. “She’s fit.”

* John Velazquez, who has won races at a 40 percent clip over the last 17 months for Clement, rides Discreet Marq for the first time.

Testa Rossi (Last 3 Beyers: 86-87-82)

* She is a three-time graded stakes winner on turf in the U.S., including one via disqualification in the Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa last January. Trainer Chad Brown thought Testa Rossi had a bad trip when fourth in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita on March 15.

“Inside, nowhere to go,” Brown said. “Finally did some running once he got her into the clear.”