Roses for Debra possible for Intercontinental or Jaipur, Clement says

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Following her successful seasonal debut in Saturday’s Grade 3 Giant’s Causeway Stakes at Keeneland, Roses for Debra will be pointed to a stakes at Saratoga during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, trainer Christophe Clement said Sunday.

Clement said the options are the Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes against females on June 7 or the Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur against males the following day. Both races are at 5 1/2 furlongs, the distance at which she won the Giant’s Causeway.

“My first choice is to train her to the Intercontinental, but we’ll keep her eligible for the Jaipur,” Clement said.

Clement said Roses for Debra will remain at Keeneland for a few more weeks before shipping directly to Saratoga around May 1. The Saratoga backstretch is expected to open later this week.

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The victory in the Giant’s Causeway was the eighth from 12 starts for Roses for Debra, a 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Liam’s Map. Roses for Debra had won four consecutive races on two occasions, including her first four starts for Clement early last year. She then finished third against males in the Turf Monster at Parx Racing, run over an extremely yielding turf course, followed by a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

“Whenever she trained very well, she always ran well,” Clement said. “She ran a disappointing race at Parx on terrible ground where I should have never run her. She didn’t train quite as well going to the Breeders’ Cup, plus she had a rough trip, plus it was the Breeders’ Cup.

“When she’s right, she’s very, very good,” Clement said.

Roses for Debra earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for her Giants Causeway victory.

Unique Insight may try Peter Pan

While he has Sierra Leone and Domestic Product headed to the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown may have another 3-year-old who could jump onto the Triple Crown trail later in the season.

Unique Insight won a first-level allowance race by 1 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct on April 12, a performance for which he earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure and a likely start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct on May 11. The Peter Pan is typically a prep for the Belmont Stakes.

The victory was the second from five starts for Unique Insight, a son of Gun Runner. Both wins have come at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct, the conditions of the Peter Pan.

“He got that big number in his last race, he’s starting to run to his pedigree,” Brown said. “He might be a Peter Pan horse. It would be another big step up, but we’ll take a look at it.”

- additional reporting by Mike Welsch

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