Ruffian gives Our Super Freak a golden opportunity to get her graded stakes win

Our Super Freak, who gave the mighty Monomoy Girl a bit of a run for her money in the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn, cuts back to a one-turn mile Sunday at Belmont in the Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian.

Our Super Freak notched her only stakes win in the restricted Shine Again at Laurel in September 2019. After returning from a layoff early last year with trainer Cherie DeVaux, she ran competitively in several graded stakes before a two-race winter stint at Oaklawn this year.

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Our Super Freak ran second in the one-mile Pippin Stakes there following a two-month break Jan. 23. Going 1 1/16 miles over a sloppy track in the Feb. 28 Bayakoa, she was second, beaten two lengths by champion Monomoy Girl, who came back to lose a heartbreaker in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom.

Our Super Freak earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in the Bayakoa. Her career best is a 99, which she got for ending up second in last year’s Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth.

“I was very pleased with her last effort finishing second to Monomoy Girl,” DeVaux said. “I have been wanting to try her at a one-turn mile, but there have been limited opportunities to do so. She has tactical speed, which should help her in this race. She’s been training exceptionally well. We hope this race can get her a graded stakes win after having some very good showings of herself.”

Jose Ortiz will ride Our Super Freak, a 5-year-old Mineshaft mare owned by LBD Stable and DeVaux’s husband, David Ingordo.

Lake Avenue could vie for favoritism with Our Super Freak in the six-horse field.

Lake Avenue, victorious in the Grade 2 Demoiselle two years ago at 2, has been rejuvenated this year after the enduring the proverbial sophomore jinx.

Lake Avenue won a second-level allowance going seven furlongs by 4 1/2 lengths in her Feb. 3 season debut at Gulfstream. She aired again most recently in the one-mile Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct, scoring by 6 3/4 lengths with a career-best 89 Beyer.

Junior Alvarado has the mount on Lake Avenue, a Godolphin homebred by Tapit who is trained by Bill Mott.

Gibberish has been freshened since finishing fourth after getting softened up in a speed duel in the Grade 3 Royal Delta on Feb. 20 at Gulfstream. She won her three previous races, all going a mile in the fall, including the Treasure Chest Stakes at Delta Downs.

Saffie Joseph Jr. trains Gibberish for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds. Javier Castellano, who has won the Ruffian twice, will ride the speedy 4-year-old.

Completing the Ruffian field are Vault, Water White, and Saguaro Row.

Post time for the 45th running of the Ruffian, the eighth of nine races, is 4:40 p.m.