Randomized lone speed in four-horse Beldame
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Randomized looks very much to have things her own way on the front end when she meets just three rivals in Sunday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame Stakes at Aqueduct.
Randomized, trained by Chad Brown for Seth Klarman, upset Wet Paint in the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga, taking control of the race from the outset under Joel Rosario and cruising to a four-length victory.
It was the second straight victory and third from five starts overall for the 3-year-old daughter of Nyquist. She is 3 for 3 when able to get the early lead, 0 for 2 when she isn’t.
Shortly after the Alabama, Brown said he would point Randomized to the Beldame, eschewing the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion, which was run two weeks ago. Brown said he didn’t like the idea of cutting Randomized back to 1 1/16 miles from 1 1/4 miles and he liked the additional time between starts. The Beldame is run at 1 1/8 miles.
The Cotillion, run over an extremely sloppy track, was won on the front end by Ceiling Crusher. This race, which Brown hopes to use as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, does not appear to have another confirmed speed horse.
“She had a strong race in the Alabama going a mile and a quarter, we’re not talking about a big horse,” Brown said. “It’s well documented she’s kind of a short, well-made attractive, but smaller type of horse that was able to do it on the front there.”
Due to some wet weather, Randomized did miss one scheduled workout the last weekend of September. But she had a solid half-mile move in 48.89 seconds on Monday, her fourth breeze since the Alabama.
“I feel like she’s got plenty of fitness, missing a work is probably not the end of the world,” Brown said. “What I didn’t want to do is do anything to jeopardize her soundness by working her on a track that was anything less than ideal.”
Randomized will break from post 3 under Rosario, who was off his mounts Thursday at Aqueduct due to illness.
Nostalgic, who won the Grade 3 Gazelle in 2022, ended a seven-race losing streak by winning a third-level allowance race going a mile on Aug. 19 at Saratoga. In that race, she defeated the Brown-trained Gerrymander, who is scheduled to run in Sunday’s Grade 3 Noble Damsel on turf.
Nostalgic was making just her second start of the year. Her previous race, she was beaten a neck by Sixtythreecaliber. Bill Mott said that Nostalgic was given ample time off after a 2022 campaign in which she raced nine times.
Mott explained Nostalgic’s layoff by saying “she needed to recharge the batteries.”
A Mo Reay had a promising start to her campaign with victories in the Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park and Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita. She finished third, but was placed second to due to interference, in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on July 1 at Ellis Park.
Most recently, A Mo Reay finished a well-beaten sixth in the Grade 3 Locust Grove on Sept. 16 at Churchill Downs. This race means coming back in three weeks.
Riding Pretty, a well-beaten third behind Occult in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks, rebounded with a 9 1/2-length win against New Jersey-breds on Sept. 2.
With only four runners, the Beldame is carded as race 3 on a nine-race card that starts at 12:35 p.m.
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