Royal Flag, Horologist back at one turn in Beldame Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Royal Flag has done her best work in races contested around two turns. But the 5-year-old mare is in such good form right now that trainer Chad Brown is hopeful his filly can successfully adapt to the one-turn configuration of Sunday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park.
Royal Flag and Horologist, last year’s Beldame winner, head a competitive field of eight fillies and mares in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race that could lead one or more of these into the $2 million Breeders Cup Distaff on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Entering this weekend, the likely favorite for the Distaff is Letruska, whom Royal Flag finished just a half-length behind in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga in her most recent start. Letruska is contesting Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, a spot Brown briefly considered for Royal Flag.
“The filly’s never been doing better,” Brown said Friday at Belmont. “I want to give her a chance to get to the Breeders’ Cup by running her out of her own stall and not giving her a long ship here and back, and obviously avoiding Letruska. It’s still a solid race, but there’s no Letruska.”
Prior to the Personal Ensign, Royal Flag beat Horologist by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Shuvee, also at Saratoga.
Royal Flag, a 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride, has made her last nine starts in two-turn races. The last time she ran around one turn was Dec. 15, 2019, at Aqueduct, where she won a one-mile maiden race by eight lengths.
“That’s the one drawback to staying home,” Brown said of the one turn. “She’s really good around two turns.”
Joel Rosario rides Royal Flag from the outside post.
Brown also runs Gold Spirit, a Chilean-bred mare who was a well-beaten second behind Horologist in the Summer Colony in August at Saratoga.
Royal Flag would likely benefit from some pace. Horologist, a front-running winner of the Summer Colony Stakes on Aug. 22, could be the pace or she could be tracking Miss Marissa and/or Spice Is Nice.
Horologist, who also excels in two-turn races, won last year’s Beldame by three lengths. She only faced three rivals that day. She kicked off her 2021 campaign winning the Top Flight Invitational, a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct. Her last race, where she beat just four rivals seemed like a confidence booster following a second to Royal Flag.
“I thought her last two races were very good, she tried her [butt] off in both of them,” trainer Bill Mott said.
Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out the trio of Zaajel, Spice Is Nice, and Thankful. Zaajel, the lone 3-year-old in the field, won the Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes here in June. Most recently, she finished seventh in the Grade 1 Test going seven furlongs at Saratoga.
“She got outfooted a little bit, never really got in a comfortable position,” Pletcher said.
Spice Is Nice won the Grade 3 Allaire duPont at Pimlico in May before finishing fifth, 9 3/4 lengths behind Letruska in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs in June. Pletcher said that Spice Is Nice got a temperature right after the Fleur de Lis, which “probably was harboring there and didn’t come out until after the race,” he said.
Pletcher said he didn’t like any of the available spots for Spice Is Nice at Saratoga, so he pointed her for the Beldame. Spice Is Nice’s best Beyer Speed Figure (95) came winning a first-level allowance here in July 2020.
“She’s promised that she’s got a big one in her, hopefully it’s coming soon,” Pletcher said.
Thankful won the Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct in January but has lost six straight since. She is coming out of a second-place finish in an allowance race here Sept. 19.
“I thought she ran an improved race with blinkers on the other day and she’s generally run well at Belmont.” Pletcher said.
Miss Marissa, second in the Ladies, won the Delaware Handicap in July before finishing eighth of nine in the Personal Ensign.
So Darn Hot, a distant third behind Horologist and Gold Spirit in the Summer Colony, is back at Belmont where she has recorded both of her career victories.
The Beldame goes as race 6 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:35 p.m. and also includes the Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity for 2-year-old sprinters on turf and the Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker Stakes for males going 1 1/8 miles on turf.