Rubilinda likely to go in Matriarch Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Rubilinda, who held on to win Saturday’s $200,000 Pebbles Stakes by a nose over Party Boat, is likely to make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 26, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.

Rubilinda, a 3-year-old daughter of Frankel, still displayed signs of immaturity, pulling hard on rider Jose Ortiz and then switching leads multiple times in the stretch, but still was able to get her third win from four career starts. The Matriarch, like the Pebbles, is run at a mile, though it is against older fillies and mares and run around two turns.

Brown said he most likely will “train her up to the Matriarch, give her one more start this season, and get her around two turns for the first time and try her in a race like that on firm ground, hopefully, and tuck her away for next year. Right now, that’s my most likely plan.”

Rubilinda earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure in the Pebbles.

Brown also won Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity with Engage, who closed well in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Brown will consider running him back in three weeks in the Grade 2 Nashua at Aqueduct on Nov. 5 or putting him away and getting him started early in his 3-year-old season.